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Chapter Text

As much as Ahsoka loved helping out the galaxy by being on the front lines with her troops and destroying separatist armies left and right, it was tiring. There was an emotional toll of fighting day in and day out, of losing your men, your friends, your family, that no one spoke about. At least, not openly. Sometimes, in the late hours when most people were asleep, she’d catch troopers talking in hushed whispers about their latest losses. She’d catch flashes of intense sorrow that cut through the air and to her very soul. Mourning brothers who never got their names. Who never got a chance to paint their armor or cut their hair. Troopers who gave everything to protect the Republic. But would likely never be mentioned outside their unit.

She tried her hardest to be a strong shoulder for the men to lean on. After all, she was their commander. And a Jedi at that! It was her job to keep a calm head when the grief got to be all too much. It was her job to keep her men focused so they could finish the fight. Live to see another day. Live to see the end of the war.

But, as much as she meditated and tried not to have any attachments, she never could perfect it. Maybe that was because Anakin seemed attached to everything that walked by him. The attachment didn’t even have to be towards anything living! She once witnessed him get so attached to a spanner that when it was finally time to get rid of it because of how broken and beat up it was, she feared they’d have to hold a funeral for it!

She couldn’t keep her emotions locked away for very long. Eventually, it all became too much. When that happened, she often found herself with Rex, trying desperately not to cry. To stay in control. To be the perfect commander.

It never worked.

The longer they spent in space, hopping from planet to planet, battle to battle, the less she could control herself.

Which was why she was so happy to be back at the Jedi Temple. It was always strange to be back here. Everyone seemed calm. Collected. Not worrying about the war at all. Going about their lives as if hundreds of men weren’t dying every day. She wondered if the Galactic Senate would pass half the laws they did if the senators were forced to live a day in the shoes of a trooper.

Still, being back on Coruscant did exactly what Ahsoka had wanted. She felt calmer. More controlled. More like the perfect commander the men needed her to be.

When she went back out into the field, she’d be ready to fight. Ready to defend her troops with everything she had.

“Padawan Tano! Padawan Tano!”

She heard the pounding of several small feet and the crying out of a high-pitched voice.

She turned to see several younglings barreling toward her. Each one seemed nervous. That, in turn, made her suspicious. What were these kids up to? And what were they expecting her to do about it?

Was this how Rex felt whenever she and Fives anxiously went to him to help solve a problem they had created?

“Yes? Is something wrong?” she asked, keeping her voice as even as possible. No need to jump to conclusions yet. Maybe she was misreading their nerves as something else!

The oldest one, a Khil girl by the name of Zizi, looked down at her feet, scuffing her toes against the floor.

“Um… we were just wondering… I mean… it’s not that important. I’m sure you have better things to do. But we are worried about it. But if you don’t want to talk to us then that’s fine. It’s just…”

Ahsoka took a deep breath to keep herself from getting annoyed. Whatever it was clearly made the younglings nervous. The fact that they trusted her enough to come to her of all people, and not a master ignited a faint bit of pride deep within herself.

“Zizi, whatever it is, you can ask. I may not be able to help. But if you don’t tell me, I definitely won’t be able to help.”

Zizi nodded, relaxed by her words. Hey, this whole ‘providing guidance to younglings’ thing wasn’t so hard!

“Well,” she started again. “You command a bunch of clone troopers, right?”

That was not the question Ahsoka was anticipating. Hadn’t even occurred to her that the younglings would care about that.

“That’s correct,” she said slowly. Her brow furrowed as she tried to predict where this conversation was going. Try as she might, she could not figure it out.

“It’s just…” Zizi hesitated once more.

“We’re worried they’re not going to like us!” Another youngling by the name of Habbar blurted out.

Once more, Ahsoka was taken aback. “What?” She couldn’t help the shock that bled into her voice.

“Yeah! They grew up together. They trained together. They all look the same!” Another youngling rambled. “What if I show up and they don’t like me?”

“Or worse, they think we’re burdens?” Another wailed.

“What if I can’t tell any of them apart?” Habbar cried, gripping his hair and yanking on it. “They’re clones! They all look the same!”

“Can we eat with them or do we have to avoid them when we’re not in battle?” Zizi asked. “Do they even want us on the ship?”

“What if I get one of their names wrong?”

“Do I need to know how to use a blaster?”

“What if I get lost on the ship?”

“How do you know which one you’re giving orders to?”

Very quickly Ahsoka found herself surrounded by distraught children who seemed to be working themselves up into more and more of a frenzy with each passing second. She held up her hands, mind racing as to how to deal with this.

She had never had so many panicked people around her at once. Looking around, she saw that she was all alone. There were no other Jedi to help calm the younglings and give them words of encouragement. It was up to her.

The pride and smugness she felt earlier were gone and she had half a mind to comm Anakin and beg him for advice. If only he wasn’t off-planet doing something for Palpatine!

“Guys, guys, relax. It’s going to be okay,” she said. These kids were all way too young to even be considered for padawans. Hopefully, by the time they were old enough, the war would be over and they wouldn’t have to worry about that.

Only, she didn’t think that was the answer they wanted to hear. Rather, she didn’t think that was the answer that was going to ease their anxieties. She couldn’t predict the future. It could very well be the case that the war would go on for so long, the younglings standing before her would have to face battle and command a battalion.

Thankfully (luckily) her words seemed to have the intended effect of calming them down. At least, calming them down enough that they were no longer wailing about worries in the hallway. Their eyes were still wet and their lips were still wobbly, though. Clearly, she needed to do something else.

“I understand what you’re going through,” she said softly.

“You do?” One asked.

“Of course, I do! I went through it too.” And boy was that the truth.

She had an entire ride in a cargo ship to think about all the things that could go wrong with her first battle. The exact same questions had swirled about in her mind and she thanked her lucky stars the pilots were both troopers who couldn’t sense her distress. She did her best to hide her nerves behind brash bravado and verbal sparring with Anakin, but deep down, it was all a lie.

What if they don’t like me?

What if they don’t trust me?

What if I can’t tell the difference and they hate me for it?

When we’re not in battle, am I allowed to spend time with them, or do they want their own space?

These questions and more became a swirling vortex in her mind, cleared away only by the adrenaline of battle. Only to come back twice as loud in the inevitable emotional crash that happened afterward.

It was actually Kix who first helped assure her of her place with the 501st. She hadn’t been sure if she was allowed to eat in the mess hall.

Rather, she wasn’t sure if the troopers wanted to see her in the mess hall. So she had started sneaking down there when it was empty, and then eating her meals in her room. After about a week of this, Kix had pounded on her door. Worried she had offended him somehow, she hadn’t wanted to open it. Hoping he’d get the message and go away.

He hadn’t.

”Tano!” he shouted through the thick durasteel, “I know you’re in there so either open the door or I’ll air my grievances out here where everyone can hear!”

This was enough to get her to open the door, not wanting to disturb the peace any more than she already had.

“Kix, is everything alright? I’m not injured. I shouldn’t need to go to the med bay.”

Kix crossed her arms and glared at her. Technically, she outranked him. But, as he so often liked to remind everyone who tried to argue against his draconian medbay policies, when it came to matters of health, he outranked everyone.

“Want to tell me why you haven’t been eating?”

This threw her through a loop. “What? What do you mean?”

“Eating. As in the consumption of food. As in something every living creature needs to do in order to survive. Don’t play games with me. I know you haven’t been eating.”

This made her even more confused. “What are you talking about? I have been eating. Several times a day.”

He did not believe her. She could feel it radiating off of him. And she didn’t even need to use the force to sense that!

She clenched her fists at her side, trying to keep control of her emotions. One week in and she had already ticked off one of the troopers. That had to be a record. Now they were all going to hate her!

“No, you haven’t. No one’s seen you in the mess hall. So out with it. What’s going on?”

“I’m allowed to eat in the mess hall?” She hadn’t meant to let that slip. Sure, it didn’t say anywhere she wasn’t allowed to eat in the mess hall, but she thought it was one of those unspoken rules that everyone just knew. Padwan Commanders stayed out of the way of the troopers unless absolutely necessary. After all, who wanted to constantly be around their boss?

Kix physically recoiled back at the question. Opening and closing his mouth several times as his face twisted its way through several different emotions.

“What? Yes! Yes, you are— Where would you even— Ugh, come on.” He grabbed her wrist and yanked her out of the room.

“Where are we going?” Ahsoka asked.

“The mess hall! Where you are going to sit down and eat. Are all Jedi this dense? Or is it just the ones I work with?”

He pulled her into the mess hall. It was busier than she had ever seen before. It seemed like the entirety of the 501st was eating at the exact same time. She stood out like a sore thumb. A splash of red in a sea of white. It made her want to curl in on herself and bring as little attention to herself as possible.

Kix grabbed a tray, still not letting go of Ahsoka’s wrist, and dragged her to a table. Pushing her onto the bench and setting the tray in front of her.

“There,” he said, “have fun. And do not leave until everything is finished.” He stormed off, muttering under his breath.

“Kix finally got to you too?” A trooper across from her asked.

“Um… yeah?”

Another one patted her on the back. “Welcome to the club, commander. Don’t take it personally. He’s crazy.”

It was such a small incident. She doubted Kix of the other two troopers (Brass and Exo were their names) remembered. But it meant the world to her.

The younglings in front of her all looked up with big, hopeful eyes. As if she held the answers to all their problems. As if she could make it all disappear with the right words.

She knelt down so she could look them all in the eyes.

“Yes, I do,” she said. “It is scary to meet so many new people at once. But, while I haven’t met every clone and there are probably some mean ones out there,” Slick being one of them. “I can say that most of them are nice. Or, at least respectful. If you watch their backs, they’ll watch yours.”

“But… how can we tell the difference?”

“And what if we make a mistake?”

She smiled. “It’s just like any other skill. You’ll get to know the men in your battalion. Their personality quirks, their armor, their scars. And soon you’ll be able to tell the difference easily. And you won’t be alone. There will be other commanders, captains, and admirals to help you along the way. And your Jedi masters can help you as well! Just be open and willing to learn, even from the troopers that are technically ranked below you.”

This seemed to finally calm the younglings down and she breathed a sigh of relief. Crisis averted. No Jedi masters needed.

“I’m going to tell you what my captain told me during my very first battle. Experience outranks everything. Listen to those that have more experience than you and learn from them. They’ll respect you a lot more and you’ll learn faster. Okay?”

They nodded.

“Good. Now, I believe you guys have lessons to get to. Run along.”

They groaned and grumbled but did as they were told. Ahsoka was left standing alone in the hallway.

She meant every word she said to the younglings. And, given that they had sprung this on her, she thought she did a pretty good job. Still, she couldn’t help but feel as though there was something more she could do. Something else to help ease them into their potential command positions.

No ideas came. But the feeling lingered.

*****

Hardcase was looking to burn off some excess energy. He usually had energy to spare but being stuck in hyperspace for several days tended to make it worse. There were only so many times one could pace from one end of a ship to another before they wanted to blow their brains out. Which was why he was headed for the training room.

A few rounds with a dummy droid was just what he needed. Some good destruction! Some heavy artillery! Something other than the monotony of space travel!

He entered the training room and frowned when he saw Ahsoka standing in the middle of the room, staring intently at an unmoving practice droid in front of her.

“Hey, commander. Looking for a little sparring practice?” he called out. Sure, he wanted to shoot something, but he’d settle for a little hand-to-hand. She’d wipe the floor with him (even without using the force), but it’d still be fun.

Ahsoka didn’t move. She just stood there. Staring and frowning at the droid.

Hardcase stood off to the side, in case she was doing some freaky Jedi shit. Maybe she was trying to crush the droid with her mind. Could Jedi do that? It’d be terrifying if they could. Terrifying, and useful in battle.

The droid remained uncrushed.

Ahsoka remained unmoving.

He glanced around the room. No one else was in here. Maybe he should risk going up to her and seeing if she was alright. Maybe something had happened in their last battle and she needed to go to the med bay. Not that he’d take her. He was also avoiding Kix. But, he’d comm Rex or Echo and have them drag her to their crazy medic.

He slowly made his way toward her. Each step checking to make sure he wasn’t about to get caught up in some sort of force field that would crush his bones.

He was now standing directly behind her, looking over her shoulder at the droid.

“Commander?”

No answer.

“Ahsoka?”

No answer.

“Well, this definitely isn’t freaky and unnatural,” he said. Maybe she had meditated too hard and fried her brain. He had to snap her back to reality. “Alright, kid. Wakey, wakey.”

He clapped his hands right next to her montrail. This did the trick as she jumped and whipped towards him. It was then he realized he probably shouldn’t have done that as her hand planted right in the center of his chest and sent him flying across the room. He smacked into the opposite wall.

“Hardcase! I’m so sorry!” she cried, running up to him as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head.

“It’s my fault for sneaking up on you,” he said, grimacing at the bruise that would no doubt form there in a few minutes. How suspicious would it look if he were to wear his helmet around Kix until it started to fade?

“Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“Nah! It’s going to take more than that to knock me down.”

She looked at him, quirking an eyebrow and crossing her arms. “And you’re not just saying that to get out of a trip to the med bay, right?”

“Didn’t a tank blow up next to you? If you ask me, that’s definitely worth a trip to the med bay.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. I won’t tell if you promise me you’re not injured.”

“I’m fine. Really. Now then, what the heck were you staring at that droid for? Did it insult you or something?”

“Why would it insult me?”

He shrugged. “Fives and I may have been trying to program it to throw out some insults.”

“Did it work?” Her face split into a grin and there was a glint in her eyes that said she would definitely be willing to help if they needed it.

“The captain hasn’t threatened to throw either of us out the airlock so I’m going to say no.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. Maybe I can help you guys with it later.”

“Obviously,” he scoffed. “Now come on. Out with it. What’s going on?”

She sighed and looked at her feet. “It’s nothing.”

“Clearly it’s something since you were so preoccupied with it you didn’t hear me come in or call out to you.”

“It’s no big deal.”

Oh, so that’s how she was going to play it. Luckily, it didn’t seem to be life-threatening. After being around Ahsoka long enough, he and the rest of his brothers had gained almost a sixth sense to tell when she was actually in danger of dying. Something that happened way too often for any of their comforts.

But just because she wasn’t dying didn’t mean he had to sit by and let her stew on this by herself.

He pushed himself to his feet and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Come on, you can tell your favorite vod.”

Ahsoka sighed. “I guess I could comm Wolffe for help, but he’s so busy.”

“No, not him.”

“I’m not sure if Rex has time either.”

“No, I mean—”

“Fives is on a mission.”

“Kid—”

“Echo’s with him.”

“Not him either!”

“Jesse might be of some help.”

“Me!” Hardcase cried. “I meant me!”

“Oh.” Ahsoka looked at him, blinking as if she had just now realized he was a person who existed. “Of course.”

Hardcase had half a mind to shove her away and tell her to work on her own problems. “I seriously rank lower than Jesse and Echo?”

“Hardcase, it’s not a ranking system.”

“Echo! The trooper who has the reg manual memorized, that Echo is better to be around than me?”

She smiled at him sweetly and patted his cheek. “You’re all my favorites.”

“Dirty liar,” he grumbled. “Whatever. What’s going on?”

She sighed and slumped into his side. “You’re going to think it’s stupid.”

“Not any stupider than you liking Echo more than me.”

“I don’t like him more than you.”

“Yeah, right.” He rolled his eyes and nudged her. “Come on. Out with it.”

“Fine. When I was at the temple, some of the younglings came up to me worried they wouldn’t be accepted by their clone troops if they ever get put into a position of command.”

“Really?” He was surprised by this. None of the Jedi he had ever met seemed remotely worried about being liked by the troops or even respected.

It felt kind of nice to know they were worried about it as well. When he first met Ahsoka, he didn’t know where he stood with her. What she wanted with him. How to interact with her. Over time, he got to know her. She was just as chaotic as practically everyone else in the 501st and he could always count on her to help him make mischief during their downtime.

“It’s not a big surprise,” she said. “You guys, you’re all brothers. Even if you don’t come from the same batch you all basically had the same upbringing. The same training. The same background. You bunk together. You eat together. Even if you get put in different squads, you’ll always have brothers there looking out for you. Brothers you know you’ll be able to relate to and count on. But padawans are different. We’re alone. There are no other padawans on this ship and even though our masters had similar upbringings to us, they’re not our peers. And sometimes you don’t want a master or a general. You want someone on your level, you know?”

“Yeah, I guess I do.”

Not for the first time did he think the life of a Jedi must be so incredibly lonely. Sometimes, he couldn’t help but think the Jedi way was too strict and expected too much from the kids that went through training. He didn’t tell anyone about this. Some things were better left in his own head.

“I did my best to assure them,” Ahsoka continued, “But I can’t help but feel like I could be doing more. It’s been nagging me ever since I left the temple. I just can’t think of anything.”

“Hmm, that is hard.” He thought about it for a minute, working through the problem and its possible solutions.

Then, the answer came to him.

It was so brilliant he couldn’t help the grin that burst across his face.

“What are you planning?” Ahsoka asked suspiciously.

“Come on, like you don’t want to make some trouble. Besides, it’s brilliant. Probably the best idea I’ve ever had.”

“Rex would argue that none of your ideas are good ones.”

He elbowed her. “Do you want to know it or not?”

“Fine,” she huffed. “What is your brilliant idea?”

“Admit that I’m your favorite first.”

“Hardcase!”

He grinned at her and kept silent.

She rolled her eyes. “You are my favorite brother.”

“Atta girl. Now, onto my brilliant idea! We start a holonet series.”

“Um, what?”

This kid. He shook his head. “A holonet series. Just make a series of videos about life with the troops. Send it to the baby Jedi. Problem solved! They can get a chance to learn about life as a commander, meet the troops, and get acquainted with the ships and the protocols. And not just what’s in the reg manual, but the unwritten rules! Like how to avoid the med bay and the best way to create an explosion when you have no explosives left.”

Ahsoka looked thoughtful. “That… that’s not a bad idea.”

“Of course, it’s not!” he scoffed. “It’s an amazing idea. And, because the 501st is the best battalion in the GAR, they’ll have a chance to see what true greatness is.”

“We are the best.”

“Exactly. Come on! I think we can find some equipment to make a video.” He grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the training room.

“Should we ask Rex if it’s okay to do this first?” she asked. “I don’t want to breach security or anything.”

“We won’t give away our position or tell them battle strategies. What are a bunch of seppies going to do with the knowledge that the mess hall’s meals are the worst mid-week?”

“Fair enough. Still, it might be a good idea to let him know. Just in case.”

He stopped to look at her. “How about instead of asking for permission, we ask for forgiveness?”

Ahsoka grinned at him, that familiar glint in her eye suggesting that she was more than on board with this. She was just making sure he was willing to ask for forgiveness if (when) they got caught.

“Alright. Let’s do this. What should the series be called?”

“I’m thinking ‘Hardcase is the Best Trooper Ever’.”

She laughed. “That’s not really catchy. And it doesn’t really capture what the series is about. Remember, Hardcase, it’s to help the younglings feel more comfortable with the troops.”

“We’ll come up with something fun.” He was practically skipping down the halls due to the excitement of what was to come. Forget blowing up a droid or two, this was going to be a great way to spend the rest of their hyperspace journey.

*****

The caretakers didn’t allow the younglings to have too much time on the holonet. They preferred them to focus on their studies and meditate.

Despite this, they did relent and let the younglings browse for an hour or two every day. Giving them access to a whole world full of information that was current. Not dusty and ancient like that which was in the Jedi archives.

It was Zizi’s turn on the holonet and she was trying to find a show to watch. Just something to get her mind off the anxiety that hadn’t fully dissipated.

Padwan Tano’s words had helped her greatly, but there was still a lingering sense of unease that never fully went away. Maybe it would remain there until she met her troops. Hopefully, they were nice. Hopefully, they helped her become a great commander and warrior.

A message popped up on the screen from Commander Tano.

Zizi frowned and clicked on it.

I’ve been thinking about our conversation from before. I know I gave you guys some advice, but I wanted to do more. Some troopers from the 501st and I decided to make a series for you guys. You can find it here! Watch it whenever you have time and don’t worry. The troops don’t want you to fail either.

“Nyamea, Ineek! Come look at this!” She called, rushing over to her friends. “Padwan Tano made a video for us!”

“Really?”

Several other younglings crowded around the pad as Zizi clicked on the link. The troopers really went out of their way to make a video series just to help them feel less anxious? That alone was more than enough to put Zizi’s mind at ease.

*****

From Creche to Command: Basic Rules with Hardcase!

“Hi, guys!” Ahsoka said brightly as the camera focused on her face. “I think most of you know me, but just in case, I’m Padwan Learner Ahsoka Tano. And with me is Hardcase!”

Hardcase flew into the frame, throwing an arm around Ahsoka’s shoulders and pulling her tight with a huge grin on his face. “Hello, all you tiny, little, baby Jedi! Ready to learn about the greatest battalion in the GAR?”

Ahsoka laughed. “Don’t worry, guys. We’re not focusing on the 501st. Everything we talk about will be pretty universal across the troops. But, the 501st is the battalion I’m assigned to so that’s who you’re going to see the most.”

“And also because we’re the best. Suck it, Waxxer, and Boil. We’re the greatest.”

Ahsoka shook her head. “Hardcase?”

“Yeah?”

“We’re supposed to be teaching them about the basic rules of the ship and whatnot. Not making fun of the 212th.”

Hardcase rolled his eyes. “Eh, fine. But you know it’s true.”

“This is the first video of the series so don’t worry if not everything is covered,” Ahsoka continued. “We’ll have plenty of time to go over everything and learn all about what it’s like to be a commander.”

“Of course. Lots to cover.” Hardcase nodded with a serious look on his face. “And the first thing we’re going to cover: Barracks. For the love of the Force, please do not walk into any barracks unannounced. At least knock and wait for someone to tell you to come in.”

“Yes. The troops might be sleeping. Or changing so you don’t want to surprise them. Unless it’s an emergency.” Ahsoka looked thoughtful for a second. “Though, come to think of it when I first joined I heard a lot of paper ripping and it sounded like everyone was in a panic whenever I knocked on the door.”

Hardcase looked haunted at her words. “Yeah, Captain Rex warned us we should get rid of them. I didn’t listen. He would have thrown me out the airlock if you had stumbled upon them.”

Ahsoka looked at him, confused. “What?”

“Anyways!” Hardcase brightened up again. “Now that barracks are done, what else should we discuss?”

“I think we should discuss what you didn’t want me to stumble upon.”

“Training! That’s a great one, Ahsoka!” Hardcase laughed nervously. “Now I know you baby Jedi have all sorts of training with your lightsabers and your force and whatnot, but sometimes you can’t use those things. Sometimes, your lightsaber goes right out of your hand. Therefore, it’s really important that you learn the basics. Learn how to fire a blaster. Learn some hand-to-hand combat. It’s all really important. And it’ll make you more deadly on the battlefield.”

“Alright, we’re really not going to talk about that.” Ahsoka rolled her eyes. “But, he’s right. Knowing how to use all tools at your disposal will increase your chances of survival. Ask your captain if they have any suggestions on who should train you.”

“Yeah! It’s also a great way to pass days in hyperspace or downtime. I love a good fight.”

“And remember, the troopers can’t use the force so try not to bruise their egos too much.”

“You don’t bruise our egos,” Hardcase scoffed. “Besides, I’ve won against you several times.”

“I let you win.”

He whipped towards her, shock and betrayal cascading down his face.

“Is there anything else we should tell them about in this first episode?”

“You go easier on the other guys though, right?”

She rolled her eyes once more. “Yes, Hardcase. I go easier on the other guys. Except for Rex.”

“Well of course. The Captain is the Captain. I’m pretty sure he could throw hands with Dooku if he was pissed enough.”

“Exactly. Now come on, anything else you wanted to talk about?”

“I guess hyperspace sickness,” he shrugged. “Sometimes when you’re in hyperspace, you can get a little woozy. Medbay will have some medicine for you.”

“You’re actually suggesting someone goes to the med bay?” she gasped.

“Hey, better to deal with Kix’s insanity than vomiting until we’re out of hyperspace.”

“That’s true. And a good suggestion.”

“Oh! And, don’t discount a blaster just because it’s not a lightsaber. Get yourself one of these babies!” He pulled up his rotary blaster cannon. “Clankers won’t know what hit ‘em!”

“I’m pretty sure that’s bigger than most of the younglings.”

“It’s definitely bigger than you, short stuff.”

“It is not!”

“Okay, but your little noodle arms probably aren’t strong enough to hold it so you should probably stick with a lightsaber.”

“You’re just trying to trick me into using it!”

He grinned at her. “Is it working?”

Ahsoka glared at him for several seconds before throwing up her arms. “Give me the cannon. I’ll show you who has noodle arms!”

The video ended with Ahsoka not at all keeping the cannon steady as practice rounds fired uncontrollably all over the training room. Hardcase sat on the sidelines, laughing so hard he was doubled over, crying.

*****

An alert pinged on Rex’s datapad. Call him paranoid, but ever since Slick, he had set up an alert to monitor any outgoing messages from his battalion. Anything unusual would alert him immediately. He did not want a repeat of what happened. If anyone was going to be a traitor on his watch, they weren’t going to have the chance to kill any more brothers.

He clicked through to see what had gone out, frowning when he realized a video had been posted to the holonet.

“What the hell?” He started watching the video, recognizing Hardcase and Ahsoka. What were those two up to?

Rex shook his head and turned off the datapad. He’d deal with Ahsoka and Hardcase tomorrow. He’d let them keep posting videos (provided they didn’t put the troops at risk). Sometimes, it was nice to have a bit of levity in a war that demanded so much from all of them.

(Chat Text

CaptainRex has added CommanderCody and CommanderWolffe to the chat.

CaptainRex: Our vod’ika has a new hobby.

CommanderCody: I’m guessing you didn’t approve of this.

CaptainRex: Of course not. But when have Ahsoka and Hardcase ever asked for permission?

CommanderCody: They don’t. They ask for forgiveness.

CaptainRex: Sometimes not even that.

CommanderWolffe liked the video.

CommanderWolffe: That’s hilarious. Those aren’t live rounds in the Z-6, right?

CaptainRex: Considering the ship wasn’t destroyed, I’m going to say yes.

CommanderWolffe has added CommanderBly and CommanderFox

CaptainRex: Come on, Wolffe, you know Fox is too busy to watch this.

CommanderWolffe: He needs a vacation.

CommanderBly: Is this a security breach?

CaptainRex: I’ll talk to them and make sure they get approval from me before they post anything else.

CommanderCody: Creche to Command? This is for the kids back at the temple? Should probably tell the troops to keep the cursing to a minimum too.

CommanderWolffe: Good point. Don’t want the padawans to learn swear words before they’re even on the battlefield.

CommanderBly: This might be for the kids back at the temple, but I think my men would get a kick out of it too.

CommanderWolffe: Mine too. I got some shinies that could probably use an introduction to life off of Kamino.

CaptainRex: Hardcase is in on it. I wonder who else knows about this and didn’t tell me.

CommanderCody: The usual suspects, my friend.

CommanderWolffe: 501st is about to have a sharp decrease in their numbers.)

Chapter Text

After Rex’s chat with the other commanders, he went straight to Ahsoka and Hardcase and banned any more uploads for the time being. Even though he felt a little hurt Ahsoka hadn’t trusted him enough to come to him with this idea, he wasn’t angry at them. Not really. The video itself seemed harmless enough and he could get behind the idea of introducing padawans to life as a commander before they were stepping off a transport ship on the front lines of an active battle.

Rex never did forgive the Jedi for that. It was a miracle Ahsoka was a quick learner otherwise her first battle would have been her last.

Also, the video kept Hardcase out of trouble for the remainder of their hyperspace journey. And, from the whispers he heard around the ship, it sounded like the rest of the 501st was excited to share their own knowledge with the younglings back at the temple.

Truly, he meant to only put a stop to the series for a few days. Enough time for him to lay down some ground rules and ensure that the uploads couldn’t be traced to their locations. But, as was the case with everything in his life, war took precedence over leisure. Very quickly, the ‘Creche to Command’ holonet series was pushed from his mind as he worked to develop battle strategies, count the dead, comfort his troops, fill out a never-ending series of paperwork, keep up with his training, and a million other things that piled onto his plate at the beginning of each day.

After about a month, he had completely forgotten all about Ahsoka and Hardcase’s little hobby.

That is, until Hardcase, Jesse, Echo, Fives, and Tup were all crowded in his office. Hardcase, Jesse and Fives looked pissed. Echo looked like he was trying to keep his twin from doing anything that would get him decommissioned, but also looked pissed. Only Tup, their newest recruit, seemed to have the decency to look a little nervous standing in Rex’s office. At least someone still understood what the word ‘captain’ meant.

“Can I help you, boys, with something?” Rex asked, sighing heavily as he put his datapad down. Whatever this was, it would hopefully be quick to deal with. He needed to go over the weapon inventory list before they sent out an order.

“What’s the hold-up, Captain?” Hardcase said.

“Hold up?”

“You told us we couldn’t upload another video until you had a chance to talk to us about it. You haven’t talked to us about it. What gives?”

Right. Creche to Command. He had said that. He groaned and massaged his brow. “I don’t know why I need to tell you this, but I am actually very busy. I’m sorry your hobby isn’t as important as battle strategy and keeping all you di’kute alive.”

This, at the very least, had the desired effect of making Tup shrink back, and Echo put a hand on Hardcase’s shoulder to try and calm him down.

“Like you aren’t always busy!” Jesse said. “You’re just mad because Tano didn’t tell you about it. She went to Hardcase instead and your ego can’t take that.”

He glared at him and bit back a growl. “That is the most idiotic thing I’ve heard you say yet.”

Then again, maybe Jesse had a point. When Ahsoka first explained why she wanted to do the series, she admitted to Rex how insecure she had been when she first stepped into battle.

”Rex,” she had said, scuffing her toes against the floor, “I don’t think you realize just how unprepared I was for all of this. You guys were raised to be soldiers. I was raised to be a peacekeeper.”

“Well, it’s hard to be a peacekeeper in the middle of a battle.” He crossed his arms.

“I know that. But sometimes, I feel like the Jedi council is afraid to train padawans to be warriors. They’re sticking their heads in the sand and pretending like what worked in the past will work now. The first battle I ever had with you guys… I had never seen so much death before in my life.” She looked up at him, unshed tears shining in her eyes. “I know it sounds stupid. It’s a war. People die. But knowing and experiencing are two different things. And what’s worse, I couldn’t fully comprehend it because if I did, I’d probably freeze up and get shot.”

Her words made him soften just a bit.

“And then afterward I was hoping someone would break down so I knew it was okay. But you guys didn’t. You just picked up and carried on. You didn’t even bury the dead.”

Because they still had a mission to complete. And spending that much time burying their brothers was a luxury they didn’t have.

She looked away from him. “The padawans aren’t prepared for this, Rex. I just wanted to give them something that no one gave me.”

She left the room before he could respond. And a new mission came in before he had time to find her.

He groaned and ran a hand down his face. Okay. So, maybe he was a little upset that Ahsoka, even after all this time, still didn’t trust him with some of her more vulnerable emotions and thoughts. Sure, he had caught her during panic attacks and sobbing sessions before, but she had never come to him with her worries. She seemed to march around the ship with a grin on her face and a thirst for battle in her blood. She took to sparring like it had been programmed in her veins. She picked up strategy like it had been etched into her soul. She felt the losses of the men but seemed to bounce back as quickly as any of them.

Rex was stupid to think that it wasn’t all a lie. He was stupid to think that this holonet series wasn’t just another way for her to try and exercise control in a situation where luck and fate was the ultimate deciding factor in who lived and who died.

“Okay, I’ll talk to her today and get things set up.”

“Finally!” Fives said.

“Now, get out of my office. I have work to do.”

Echo pushed the group out before they could make much more trouble. But, before he left, he turned back to face him. “If you don’t talk to her by the end of the day, we’ll mutiny.”

“You won’t mutiny.”

“That’s what you think, vod.” He turned and left the room.

Sometimes, he wondered if Cody and the rest of the commanders had to put up with so much osik from their subordinates.

He wouldn’t have it any other way, though. The openness his battalion had, the ability for them to speak their minds and trust he wouldn’t punish them, was what made the 501st such a strong unit. They had ranks, yes. But at the end of the day, they were equals.

He reached over and commed for Ahsoka to meet him in his office. While he waited, he got back to his work, the words in front of him swirling into an incomprehensible language that made his head hurt.

“Kix says if you stare at a datapad too long you’ll go blind.”

He jumped and looked up to see Ahsoka standing in front of him, grinning.

“Kix is full of it,” he grumbled, putting the pad down.

“What’d you need me for? Are you still mad about the video?” She looked confident enough, almost smug in her ability to annoy him. But he could tell, the way she stood, the way she had her arms crossed, the way she wasn’t quite looking him in the eye, she was still nervous about getting in trouble. Or maybe disappointing him.

“I’m not mad. I’m—”

“Disappointed?”

He huffed and leaned back. “I’m not even disappointed. I just want to know why you didn’t tell me about this. It’s not against the regulations.”

“I know. We had Echo check.”

“Good to know. So if it’s not against the regulations, why didn’t you tell me about it?”

“So, I have to ask permission before I do anything?” she scoffed.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what do you mean? Hardcase and I didn’t break any rules, we didn’t let any intel slip that could be used in battle. You don’t monitor every game of Sabaac or require us to tell you every time we use the kitchen. Why is this any different?”

“Because you tried to hide it,” he snapped, immediately regretting the harshness of his words. He took a second to compose himself. Ahsoka could feel all of his emotions which would only make this conversation more difficult and less productive.

Once he felt more in control, he tried again. “You weren’t breaking any rules, but you still went out of your way to keep me from knowing about it. Everyone else seemed to know, but if I hadn’t set up that alert to monitor any outgoing transmissions, I never would have seen it. I just want to know why.”

Ahsoka looked away from him, seeming to shrink on herself. The annoying thing was, she could be just as stubborn as Skywalker, more so when she wanted to be. She could freeze him out, avoid him for weeks, and find every excuse in the book not to talk to him alone. He wondered who had taught her so well and if he could kindly punch them in the face for making his life more difficult.

Of course, one did not have two stubborn Jedi who liked to hide all their feelings until they were literally sobbing in a broom closet at two in the morning without having a few tricks up their sleeves. If Ahsoka was going to ice him out, he was going to play dirty.

“Do you not trust me?”

She flinched at that. It was a low blow, he was very well aware. But it provided him with the ammo he needed to get her to open up.

“Of course I do!”

“Then why not tell me about this?”

“It’s… it just feels so stupid!” She threw her hands up in the air. “You seem to know everything and have all the experience in the world but I still feel like I’m drowning. Like I can barely keep up no matter what I do. Every time I learn something I also learn that there are a million other things I don’t know and it’s stupid!”

“It’s not stupid to feel that way.” He moved out from behind his desk to put a hand on her back; ready to tell her that as much as she thinks he has all the experience in the world, he still feels like a cadet. Barely keeping up with everything going on around him. Barely dipping his toe into the world of war and the knowledge needed to keep his men alive.

“No, the video series. It’s literally stupid. It’s stupid fun. I know I told you it’s to help the padawans get more acquainted with troopers and being a commander. But let’s face it, they’re probably going to learn more about how to pull pranks or make the rations slightly more edible than battle strategy or fighting. I’m not improving my lightsaber forms, learning how to negotiate, or learning how to run a successful campaign. I’m just messing around with the troopers and posting stupid videos on the holonet that ultimately don’t help anyone! That’s why I didn’t want to tell you.”

The fight burned out of her and her shoulders slumped forward.

“I didn’t want you to be disappointed or think I was wasting my time.” She finished quietly.

He felt shame creeping over his body; burning hot and bright fast enough that he knew Ahsoka felt it as well.

“Oh, vod’ika, that’s not…” He sighed and pulled her into a hug. “Ni ceta. I didn’t mean to make you feel like you couldn’t have any fun or do something not immediately useful. War is hell, kid. And just because this series isn’t going to help you defeat clankers or learn to negotiate with terrorists doesn’t mean it isn’t useful.”

“Yeah, right,” she huffed. He could practically feel her roll her eyes at him.

“I’m serious. Our trainers on Kamino were all pretty serious as well. All work, no fun. If it didn’t serve an immediate purpose to improve our skills then it was deemed unnecessary and had to go. But they were wrong. Sometimes you need something like a stupid holonet series where Hardcase makes fun of your noodle arms and then you utterly fail to use the Z-6.”

She laughed. “I do not have noodle arms.”

“Agree to disagree.”

She pulled back and smiled at him. “So we can keep doing the series?”

“Yeah, you can do the series.”

“Yes!”

“But, I have a few ground rules.”

“Ugh, fine. What are they?”

“No cursing.”

“Obviously.”

“Maybe for you but not for the rest of the guys.”

“Fair point. What else?”

“You can’t give away our position or mention if we are coming from or going to a battle. And, I have to approve of everything before you send it out.”

“Rex!” she whined.

“Those are my rules, kid. Take it or leave it.” Not that he thought she would be so stupid as to give away intel that would lead to their doom, but sometimes things slipped through the cracks. She was still a kid and had not been trained like Rex and the rest of his vod. She was right. She was trained as a peacekeeper and peacekeepers didn’t have to worry about intel and security and all that. Not as much as a soldier did.

“Fine. But only if you agree to be in the episodes.”

“One episode. I’ll be the subject in one episode.”

She chewed his proposition before nodding and holding out her hand. “Deal.”

He shook it. “Deal. What’s the next topic going to be about?”

“I’m thinking how to tell the troopers apart. Echo and Fives wanted to do that one. Jesse wants to do slang.”

“Of course, he does,” Rex muttered. He was definitely going to have to watch that one. Echo could probably keep Fives in line, but left to his own devices, Jesse could slip in all manner of inappropriate things that would probably go right over Ahsoka’s montrals.

“But,” she continued, “the younglings at the temple were very worried about telling you all apart. I think that particular fear came up multiple times in multiple different ways.”

“You seem to do a good enough job, though.”

Ahsoka’s cheeks darkened and she looked away.

“What is it?”

“Don’t laugh,” she mumbled, blushing even more furiously.

“Okay. I won’t.”

“The reason why I was so quick to learn how to tell the difference between all of you is because I actually have a hard time telling the difference between all humans. Not just troopers.”

He couldn’t help it. He laughed. Throwing his head back and laughing so hard it echoed through the hallways.

“It’s not funny, Rex!”

“It’s a little funny.”

“I once spoke to Master Kenobi for twenty minutes before realizing I was actually speaking to Admiral Yularen,” she practically wailed.

Rex had to hold the desk for support he was laughing so hard. “They don’t look remotely the same!”

“They both have facial hair!”

“You mixed up Yularen and Kenobi? I have to tell Cody this.”

“It was my first time meeting him! I didn’t know! Stop laughing, Rex!”

He couldn’t. The idea that to Ahsoka, all humans were clones was too funny to pass up.

“Ugh, you’re being mean. I’m going to go tell Echo and Fives the good news, besom.”

Rex immediately stopped laughing as soon as the word was out of her mouth; watching in shock as Ahsoka stormed out the door. The troopers all spoke broken bits of mando’a. It was a way for them to feel like people and not like disposable weapons. That coupled with their names and the paint on their armor, was a culture created for a group of people designed not to have one. Generally speaking, while the troopers spoke mando’a to each other, they didn’t really speak it around the Jedi or other nat-borns on the ship. No one ever felt a need to.

However, the 501st (like usual) was a bit different. It didn’t take long for the troopers to start using it around Ahsoka. He had slipped it in several times in this conversation alone. Despite them using it around her, though, he never expected her to use it back.

Besom

Ill-mannered lout.

Jesse must have taught her that one.

He smiled as something warm burrowed in his chest. He decided not to give a name to this emotion, but he wouldn’t bury it either. This war took many things from him. It wouldn’t take this either.

*****

Wolffe was generally not one to believe in luck. Why rely on some dice-rolling universal osik like luck when you could make your own luck and rip droids apart with your bare hands?

However, even Wolffe had to admit, they were very lucky on this last battle. The separatists had decided to up their game and their war crimes by taking an entire village hostage. Like Ryloth, only this time they had the brilliant idea to split the children from their parents and stick them on the front lines. This meant that Wolfpack’s normal strategy of ‘hit hard, hit fast, and bite through the fuckers that don’t go down with blaster fire’ wouldn’t work. Not unless they wanted to mow down a bunch of kids. And Wolffe was not inclined to kill children.

Thankfully, General Koon managed to pretend to negotiate a surrender with the leader while Wolffe led a small group of men around the back to stealthily take down the droids. Each second he spent on that battlefield took away ten years off his already shortened lifespan. One wrong move and their deception would be discovered. Then, the kids would be dead in a hail of blaster fire and they would lose. Even if the separatist leader died and the village was freed, they would still lose.

But, as stated earlier, luck (which Wolffe still didn’t believe in) was on their side. His squad culled the droid army, got the kids out of the line of fire, and then took care of the rest.

Easy.

Done.

Success.

Not quite.

The enemy was kind enough to put all the kids in one place (as sentient meat shields on the literal front line of battle) so they were easy enough to gather up. But the parents and the rest of the adults? Nowhere to be found!

Because of course, they weren’t.

That would be too easy.

And luck didn’t like Wolffe to have an easy life.

It liked to throw wrenches in his plan and laugh in his face as he adapted and overcame obstacle after obstacle.

No matter.

This was Wolfpack.

This is what they did.

This is how they succeeded.

“Sir, I’ve sent Ace and Wire to take a squad and start scouting out the cave systems in the mountains,” he said as he and General Koon walked through their makeshift camp.

“We will need to hurry. If they discover their main forces are dead, they will likely start executing the adults,” General Koon said.

“Of course, sir.” He didn’t need to be told. The clock was ticking and every second they didn’t have those hostages in their grasp was a second where casualties could grow. “Wire has a few heat signatures registering about three clicks to the north. They’ll start there. Hopefully have the kids back with their parents before sundown.”

“Good work as always,” General Koon said, resting a hand on his shoulder. “The intel did not say there were any more droid armies on this planet. For now, we can use the village as a base of operations. Once we have all citizens recovered, we can continue the rest of our campaign.”

“Yes, sir.” Now came the hard part.

The kids.

They did not seem to trust any of the troopers at all. One even bit Clawe’s finger. It was probably infected by now. Wolffe did understand why they were so hesitant. They were on the outer rim. War hadn’t reached them yet. And, when ships did descend from the sky, they were filled with blaster fire and droids that ripped them from their parents and held them hostage. Wolffe and the troopers were the good guys, but he could see from a child’s point of view why that might not be the case. Their armor was hard and unnatural. Hiding their faces and their bodies from the world. And, when they did take their helmets off, they all looked the same. For Wolffe, this was normal. Hell, most of the generals and admirals in the GAR were used to it by now. But for any neverd out there who happened to stumble upon even five troopers, it had to be jarring. Weird. Unnatural. Unnerving. Not only that, but the troopers all carried weapons. Blasters and cannons that were loud and looked like the weapons that had ripped through these children’s homes and hurt them and their families.

All of this was to say the kids were not very willing to sit there and take orders.

“We have to do something about the kids,” Wolffe said as they walked through the camp. “They don’t trust us. They won’t let any of our medics scan them. And I’m pretty sure as soon as we turn our backs they’re going to head for the hills.”

“I agree with you.” General Koon nodded.

“Can’t you, I don’t know, use the force to make them calm or something?” He still wasn’t quite sure how the force worked beyond the basics. But he was pretty sure Cody once told him about how General Kenobi could convince people to do something by waving his hand and suggesting it in a soothing tone.

General Koon laughed. “To do such a thing requires me to find some thread of calm, or the desire to be calm. I then pull that thought to the front. However, these children are much too distressed for that to work. I am sorry, Commander. We will need to come up with a different solution.”

Damn! “I heard Kix designed a blaster that shot out tranquilizers. Maybe we could try that.”

General Koon looked at him, torn between horror and amusement. “Why in the galaxy would he require something of that nature?”

“Have you met the 501st?”

“Point taken. Still, I do not think it would be wise to drug the children to sleep. We do not wish for their parents to think we are trying something amoral.”

Wolffe groaned. There had to be a solution here. There just had to be. Something that didn’t involve Clawe losing another finger to a particularly bitey trandoshan.

“Um, sirs,” a shiny Wolffe vaguely recognized as ‘Lucky’ said nervously. “I might have an idea.”

Behind him were the rest of the batchmates: Silver, Scout, Coil, and Deadshot. They were some of the lucky ones. Most shinies didn’t even get their names before they died. And most batchmates came out of their first battles down several brothers. That was always the worst part for Wolffe. That first death of a batchmate. The reality of war set in. He hated it every time.

“What is your idea, trooper?” General Koon said kindly.

Lucky fidgeted slightly, nervous to be talking so freely with the general. It was probably his first time speaking with him. He was likely running through all the lessons those long necks drilled into them about respect and how to talk to their superiors and whatnot. They’d probably have a heart attack if they went onto the battlefield and heard how most of the troops spoke to their generals.

Come to think of it, maybe Wolffe should suggest Lama Su go take a tour of the 501st. That might just give that bastard a stroke.

“What if we were to show them an episode of ‘Creche to Command’?”

General Koon’s brow furrowed. “What?”

Wolffe winced. It was an unspoken rule that the holonet series stay away from the eyes of the Jedi. They were pretty certain no one would object to it. They didn’t object to anything else Skywalker’s band of insane troopers did. But they didn’t want it to get to the Senate. Because if it got to the Senate, that meant it would get to Palpatine.

And Palpatine was a… shabuir.

While the generals seemed to consider the troopers people deserving of the same basic respect they gave all sentients, Palpatine seemed to think of the troopers as droids, but squishier and able to bleed. And feel pain. If he saw this series, Wolffe had no doubt he would either try to squash it or take control of it. He was controlling like that.

Something Fox often complained about at length.

He couldn’t blame the shinies, though. The younglings back at the Temple were also watching the series. Eventually, it’d make its way to the council one way or another. At least this way, General Koon learned of it first.

“It’s a series Ahsoka and the 501st are doing,” Wolffe hurried to say.

“Little ‘Soka?”

“Yes, sir. It was originally meant for the younglings at the temple to ease them into their command positions. But the men have taken a liking to it as well.”

“How interesting,” General Koon said evenly. Sometimes, it was hard to get a read as to how he felt about something. It didn’t help that he didn’t have eyes or a mouth that showed any amount of expression.

General Koon turned back to Lucky. “And you believe this holonet series would help calm the village children?”

“It’s worth a shot, sir,” Lucky said. “It was originally meant for children so I don’t see why it wouldn’t be helpful here. Besides, it would help show them that we’re not scary monsters. We’re here to help.”

“Hmm, you make a good point. Why don’t you and your squad attempt to show the children one of these videos? We have nothing to lose by trying.”

“Yes, sir!” Lucky and the rest of the shinies snapped into a salute before turning toward the tent that housed the children.

“Who else knows about this series?” General Koon asked.

“Captain Rex is monitoring it to make sure it’s safe for children and doesn’t give away any intel that might aid the separatists,” Wolffe answered. “I don’t know if Generals Skywalker and Kenobi are aware. But the rest of the troops are. Including Commander Cody and Bly. Fox might be aware, but he also might be too busy to be aware.”

“When we are done here, send me these videos. I would like to see what little Soka is up to in her free time.”

“Yes, sir.”

Wolffe glanced back at the tent. Lucky had a holopad out and was holding it up to the kids. They looked suspicious, but something on the screen caught their eyes and they quickly became enraptured with whatever chaos was unfolding on the screen.

Convinced Lucky and his batchmates had this handled, Wolffe continued after General Koon, hoping the parents wouldn’t be too much longer.

*****

From Creche to Command: How to Tell the Difference, with Echo and Fives

“Hi guys, welcome back!” Ahsoka said brightly. “Today I’m joined by two ARC troopers, Echo and Fives.”

Echo and Fives sat on either side of Ahsoka, both sporting big smiles and waving to the camera.

“Hello.”

“Hi, there!”

“Now, I know a big concern for you guys was being able to tell the troopers apart,” Ahsoka continued. “I think it came up multiple times. So, that’s what we’re going to talk about today. How to tell the differences! Because, even though the troopers are clones, you’ll find there are many ways you can tell who’s who.”

“And, just a side note,” Echo added, “we know we’re clones. You’re not insulting us or demeaning us by pointing out the obvious. We are well aware we share the same face as thousands of other men in the galaxy right now.”

“Yeah, so don’t worry if you can’t tell us all apart right away,” Fives said. “But do make an effort. We’re learning your name. You should learn ours.”

“Exactly.” Echo nodded. “Most troopers are going to look like Fives and me.”

“Cause we’re the base model.”

Echo wrinkled his nose. “That makes us sound like ships for sale.”

“We are kind of.”

“Not to me, you’re not!” Ahsoka beamed.

“Anyways,” Echo hissed, rolling his eyes. “Most troopers are going to look like Fives and me. Dark hair. Brown eyes. Tan skin. But, there is some variation in skin tone, hair color, and eye color.”

“Like our dear captain Rex! Who’s very blond. Come on out, Captain. Show off that beautiful, head of hair you got,” Fives said, clapping and grinning like a madman. “He hasn’t shaved it down in a while so it’s nice and fuzzy. Come on, don’t be shy. The ladies will love you.”

“Copanni mirshmure’cye, vod?” Rex snapped somewhere off camera.

His smile dropped and he turned to Ahsoka. “I thought you said you got him to agree to appear.”

“One episode. I got him to agree to be in one episode,” she replied. “And I want to use it wisely.”

“But… but he’s sitting right there!”

“Doing paperwork!” Rex shouted.

“Why?”

“Because some di’kut decided it was a good idea to jump off our gunship onto another ship while we were in flight!”

“And I survived with minimal broken bones!”

“Technically, captain, it doesn’t say anywhere in the reg manual you aren’t allowed to jump from one ship to another mid-flight.”

“It’s implied!”

“Guys, can we get back to how to tell the troopers apart,” Ahsoka said.

“Fine. Captain No Fun over there can keep his paperwork.”

“I will throw you out the airlock, Fives.”

”N’eparavu takisi, alor’ad.” Fives grumbled.

Ahsoka merely rolled her eyes at their antics. “The most common way you’ll be able to tell troopers apart is with their armor.”

“That’s right,” Echo said. “The colors will usually correspond to the battalion they serve in.”

“Like 501st blue, the best color,” Fives added. “212th Gold, a less cool but pretty solid color. And the red of the Coruscant guard. Because Fox lacks subtly”

“Did Fox choose the color, or was that the decision of Chancellor Palpatine?” Ahsoka asked.

“Who knows.” Fives shrugged. “You’ll notice, though, that troopers will have different designs painted on their armor. Like Captain Rex and his jag’s eyes. Echo with his handprint. Or Jesse with his Republic crest.”

“You’ll also see a lot of shinies who don’t have their armor painted,” Echo said.

“Don’t worry about shinies. Jesse and I will explain that to you later.” Ahsoka added.

“Right,” Echo nodded. “For now, just note that it’s considered almost sacred when a shiny gets to paint his armor. Getting to add the colors of your battalion to your armor is a right of passage. It’s a sign you’re truly accepted by your brothers.”

“The symbols drawn on the armor can mean all sorts of things,” Fives said. “It can be something personal to the brother. It can be a joke. It can even just be a design they like. Sometimes, you might be invited to watch or even help a shiny paint his armor, but not always. It’s a pretty personal thing so don’t be offended if you never get to see a shiny paint his armor or tell you why he’s painted what he’s painted.”

“But, because most troopers will wear their armor, even just around the ship, you’ll get used to seeing the different designs. And you can use those designs to determine who is who,” Ahsoka said. “But sometimes you can also use other things like their hair and tattoos.”

“Technically, it’s against the reg manual to have any tattoos or facial hair,” Echo said.

“You and that damn reg manual,” Fives muttered.

“Fives,” Rex warned.

“Right. Sorry. You and that darn reg manual. Better Captain?”

Rex didn’t reply.

“And it’s a good thing most troopers don’t follow that rule because it makes it so much easier to tell who’s who when they’re in their blacks. Like Jesse’s tattoo.”

“Oh, yeah.” Fives made a face. “Jesse’s got the damn— I mean, darn republic crest tattooed on his face.” He leaned in close to the camera and whispered, “Don’t worry, we all think it’s stupid too. Just don’t tell him. He thinks it looks cool.”

“You know he’s going to see this, right?” Echo said.

Fives shrugged. “We’ll cut that out. Some troopers will also have fun facial hair. Like my amazing goatee.”

“It looks so stupid on you.” Echo shook his head.

“You’re just jealous because I can pull it off and you can’t.”

“We have the same face!”

“It’s not about looks, vod --though we can all agree I’m the better looking one out of the two of us— it’s about the vibe!”

“And you don’t have a vibe that can pull it off.”

Ahsoka looked like she was starting to regret sitting between the two domino twins.

“Oh please. You’re just mad that I’m willing to go against the reg manual and you aren’t.”

“Regs are there for a reason!”

“You and that damn manual! Why don’t you just go get married to it?”

“Um, Rex… what do I do?” Ahsoka said, looking between the two and quickly realizing there was no way out of this.

“That doesn’t even make any sense!” Echo shouted.

“It is when you’re name’s Echo!” Fives shouted back. “You love that thing so much, you hold it in your left hand, and in your right hand you—”

Whatever he was going to say was quickly cut off when a blaster bolt flew out from behind the camera, embedding into the wall right behind Fives. Only a centimeter or two higher than his head.

Fives let out a shriek and ducked for cover. “Ni ceta! Ni ceta, alor’ad! Udesii!”

Ahsoka had hopped onto Echo’s lap when the bolt shot through the air. Both of them were staring wide-eyed at Fives.

“You good, Rex?” she asked, looking just behind the camera.

“Feeling better now,” Rex answered.

“Okay… Then let’s move onto some other ways you can tell the difference,” she said, sliding off Echo and back onto her chair.

“What other ways are there, sir?” Echo asked. “Hair, tattoos, armor, basic genetic differences. I’m not missing anything am I?”

“For you, no. But for me and other Jedi, yes!” Ahsoka said brightly.

“Ah, jedi osik. Should have seen that coming,” Fives said. He looked behind the camera and paled. “Sorry, Captain. Won’t happen again.”

Ahsoka patted his shoulder and turned back to the camera. “Now, if you’re a carnivorous species like me, you can actually tell the troopers apart by their smell.”

This seemed to surprise both Echo and Fives as they whipped towards her with wide eyes.

“Wait, seriously?” Fives asked.

She nodded, the faintest bit of pride leaking onto her features. “Yup! Torgrutas are hunters so we have to have a good sense of smell. And all the troopers smell different!”

“Like good smells or…” Echo trailed off.

“Usually good. Though Jesse hasn’t showered in two weeks, and it is starting to hurt my head.”

“We’ll let him know.” Fives said, blushing as he probably realized he also hadn’t showered in a bit and was probably also giving Ahsoka a headache.

“Some troopers smell more unique than others,” Ahsoka continued. “Like Hardcase smells like the oil you guys use to service your blasters. Hawk smells like the fuel we use for the gunships. And Kix smells like bacta, disinfectant, and barely controlled rage.” She beamed at the camera once more.

“That makes sense for Kix.”

“I’m not surprised.”

“And others are not easy to describe, like you guys! You have a unique scent to you, but I can’t exactly place it. It’s almost like hot dust? It’s weird, but I know it’s you guys.”

“I guess there are worst things to smell like than hot dust,” Echo shrugged.”

“Yup! But, not every padawan or Jedi is a predator. So there’s still one trick you can use to tell the troopers apart. And that’s the force.”

“Which is cheating!” Fives said, wagging a finger at the camera.

Ahsoka elbowed him in the ribs. “It’s not cheating to use all the tools at your disposal. Or is my sense of smell also cheating?”

“It is,” Fives said.

Echo just shook his head.

“It’s not,” Ahsoka argued. “But each living thing has a unique signature within the force. The Troopers are no different.”

“I thought we’d all have the same force signature since we’re clones,” Echo said.

“You might all look the same, but you aren’t all the same. You have unique personalities, likes, dislikes, and souls. That means you have a unique force signature. It does take some practice to see and get used to. But once you do, it’s the easiest way to tell who’s who. I can pick Rex out of a dusty battle a mile away!” Ahsoka said, chest puffing up once more with pride.

“The closer you are to a trooper, the easier you’ll be able to sense their force signature.”

“Huh, learn something new every day,” Echo said.

“Like the fact that we need to probably be showering more often.”

He shook his head. “It’s disgusting that you don’t shower every day.”

Fives reached around behind Ahsoka and slapped Echo on the back of his head.

“We should probably end this before you two get into any more arguments,” Ahsoka said. “See you guys next time!”

*****

Ace and Wire had found the rest of the hostages, alive and mostly unharmed. Thankfully, the droid army was small and the ones Wolffe destroyed were the bulk of the army.

Within the hour, the children had been reunited with their parents in several tearful embraces. But not before Lucky, Silver, Scout, Coil, and Deadshot had all gained their trust and watched Ahsoka’s videos together. It was quite a sight.

Wolffe may have taken some pictures.

With the village secure and the separatists gone for the time being, it was time they moved out. Other planets needed their help.

The shinies were gathered around General Koon and Wolffe as they received their next set of commands.

“Commander,” General Koon said in a tone of voice that sounded almost amused.

It made Wolffe pause.

“I believe we have an audience.”

They all turned to see the group of children standing there. They all had bags stuffed full of things in their hands. They looked nervous.

General Koon knelt in front of them. “What is it, little one? Do you need anything?”

The boy in front scuffed his shoes on the ground before holding up the bulging bag. “They need to paint their armor,” he said.

It was only then that Wolffe realized what was in the bag. Paints and paintbrushes. Likely gathered from their homes or picked out the wreckage of their cities.

“What was that?” General Koon asked gently.

“The video said they paint their armor to tell them apart,” a squeaky-voiced girl in the back piped up. “But Coil doesn’t have any paint on his armor. Deadshot, Silver, Scout, and Lucky don’t either. They need to paint it.”

“How right you are. My apologies, men. An oversight on my part,” General Koon said, practically vibrating with amusement as he turned to face the shinies.

Coil waved his hands in front. “Oh, no, sir. It’s alright. We’ve been busy,” he stammered.

“Indeed. But now we are not busy.” He stood and turned to Wolffe. “Commander, do you think we have time for our men to personalize their armor?”

Wolffe didn’t let his voice betray the amusement he felt at the situation. He kept it stoic and stony, like always. “Yes, sir. We can handle the rest of the work for an hour or two.”

“Very good. Men, please report back to Commander Wolffe when you’ve finished.”

“Yes, sir!” The shinies snapped into a salute.

Wolffe was very glad he had his helmet on. He did not want his men to see him grinning like an idiot at what was happening.

“Dismissed,” he said.

As he and General Koon turned to leave, he could hear Scout say, almost hesitantly, “So… you kids want to help us?”

The high-pitched cheers told him they definitely did.

*****

CommanderWolffe has added CaptainRex, CommanderCody, CommanderBly, CommanderFox, CommanderGree, and CommanderPonds to the chat.

CommanderCody: What’s up, Wolffe? Heard you had a hard campaign on Kigomia. Something about civilian hostages?

CommanderWolffe has uploaded two pictures to the chat.

Image One: Five troopers in unpainted armor and a group of children huddled around the glowing light of a holopad. Deadshot has one sitting in his lap and another hanging off his shoulders. Coil has one on each side of him, all three asleep. Lucky is laughing at them.

Image Two: Five troopers surrounded by a group of children with paint splattered on their armor. All troopers have tiny handprints on their chest plates. One girl is painting something on Silver’s arm, tongue stuck out in concentration while another boy directs Scout on what to paint.

CommanderBly: Let me guess, Creche to Command?

CommanderWolffe: Of course. Turns out, it’s got universal appeal. All kids love it.

CommanderGree: I’m surprised you kept in Fives’ comment about what Echo does in his free time, Rex. I thought this was supposed to be child-friendly. No sex jokes.

CaptainRex: It flew over Ahsoka’s head so I figured it’d fly over the heads of any other kid that watched it.

CommanderPonds: If that’s what you kept in, I hate to see what you cut out. Nice shot with the blaster, though. Might have to try that on my men.

CommanderCody: Did you know Ahsoka could smell the difference between all of us?

CaptainRex: No and now I feel very self-conscious.

CommanderGree; Can’t be any worse than what Jesse smells like.

CommanderBly: Yeah, look on the bright side. No matter how bad you smell, it can’t be any worse than what Jek smells like after a day in the field.

CaptainRex: Can we please quit talking about this?

CommanderCody: We only tease because Ahsoka is unnatural. Interesting about the force signature, though. I’ll have to ask Kenobi about that.

CommanderWolffe: I asked Koon about it as well. He looked at me as if I had just asked him if planets existed. I swear, sometimes these Jedi forget some of us don’t have the force.

CommanderGree: Has Fox seen any of these videos? Or are we just putting him in the chat for fun?

CommanderPonds: Next time I see him, I’ll tell him to watch it.

CommanderBly: I think he’d rather you help him punch Palpatine.

CommanderPond: Noted. Also, not going to happen.

CommanderWolffe: I did want to mention Koon knows about the series. Which means the rest of the Jedi will probably know soon.

CaptainRex: Haar’chak! Who told him?

CommanderWolffe: Relax, Rex. They’re going to find out eventually. You think those creche kids know how to hide shit? Better him than someone with a stick up their ass like Krell.

CaptainRex: Yes, but they just figured out a schedule for filming

CommanderCody: And who was the reason they had to stop for a month in the first place?

CaptainRex has left the chat.

CommanderBly: Not very subtle, is he?

CommanderGree: It’ll be fine, guys. It’s not against regs and they’re not putting anyone in danger.

CommanderCody: And we were lucky it was Koon that found out.

CommanderWolffe: I don’t believe in luck.

CommanderPonds; Don’t you literally have a trooper named ‘Lucky’ working for you?

CommnaderWolffe has left the chat.

CommanderBly: Yet another unsubtle trooper in our midst, boys.

Chapter Text

The darkness enveloped Ahsoka. It blinded her. Disorientated her. Made it so she felt wobbly and off-balance. She so desperately wished to ignite her lightsaber. Not only did she need the light to see, but she also felt so open and vulnerable without its warm glow. Maybe Rex was right about the armor and the blaster. Maybe she’d feel a bit better if she had a chest plate and some other weapon to protect herself.

Too late to deal with that. She was stuck with a lightsaber that she couldn’t ignite because she couldn’t risk the enemy seeing her squad. She was not about to put these men’s lives in danger because she wanted to see.

“I can go in front, sir,” Jesse whispered. “Night vision and everything. I can see perfectly well.”

She bit her lip, hesitating for a beat. She was the commander. It should be her out in front. Not only because she was the leader, but because she wanted to be the first person targeted should their enemy decide to attack. But, they had to move so slowly because they couldn’t see anything. Jesse had his night vision. He should go in front.

She relented and let him slip in front.

Jesse grabbed her hand and put it on his belt. “Try not to get lost, sir,” he said, just a hint of amusement in his voice.

She could feel Fives and Hardcase’s amusement rolling off them in waves. Echo was amused, but not nearly as much as his twin. Tup seemed too nervous to be amused, still shiny, and not quite sure how to act around her. And Kix wasn’t amused in the slightest. She wasn’t sure if their medic could feel amusement. Maybe all medics had ‘fun’ and ‘joy’ programmed out of them.

“I’m not a little kid,” she grumbled.

“Just keep telling yourself that, sir,” Jesse said.

She had half a mind to kick him. Instead, she kept her complaints to herself and a hand on his belt so she wouldn’t get lost. They continued through the seemingly endless hallway.

“Smell anything?” Fives asked.

She rolled her eyes. Ever since they had learned of her heightened sense of smell, they hadn’t stopped poking fun at her for it. It also led to a lot of troopers nervously coming up to her and asking what they smelled like. According to Dogma, there was now a betting pool as to who smelled the worst and another one as to who smelled the weirdest. She thought they were all ridiculous.

“Only that you need to shower, Fives. Seriously, would it kill you to wash more than once a week?”

“It might,” Fives whispered back.

“Guys, can we focus?” Echo hissed. “We haven’t seen the enemy anywhere. I don’t want to get caught in a trap.”

“Maybe Rex’s squad is engaging him?” Hardcase asked.

“Maybe. I can’t get ahold of the captain either way,” Jesse said.

“Maybe the enemy fled,” Tup asked, hope bleeding into his voice. “I mean, two squads of highly trained troopers plus a Jedi, those are pretty bad odds.”

“If you’re a run-of-the-mill clanker,” Echo said. “This guy’s not.”

Ahsoka reached out with the force. She could sense their enemy. He was nearby, but he was doing something to mask his own location. Great, just what she needed. “Echo’s right. He’s still here. And he’s looking for us.”

Tup’s nerves flared up at her words.

“If I were him, I’d take out our squad first,” Kix said in his normal ‘matter-of-fact’ way. “It’s got the Jedi on it. The commander would be able to go toe-to-toe with him. At least for a bit.”

She rolled her eyes. “Thanks for your vote of confidence, Kix.”

“Why was I put on this squad?” Tup groaned.

“Cause we’re way better than the Captain and his squad of misfits.” Fives slapped him on the back.

“Jesse, what the hell are you doing up there?” Hardcase hissed. “Are you finding a way out of here or not?”

“I’m trying, but this entire place is like a damn maze!” he snapped back.

Ahsoka couldn’t see it, but she knew what Jesse was talking about. The hallway had several branches at multiple points that could lead anywhere. Taking one of those paths could be dangerous. It could be a trap. They could get more lost. They might go further down instead of up, which was their original goal. But, they couldn’t just keep walking in a straight line. They weren’t getting anywhere like this.

She had to do something. She was the commander. It was her job to get everyone out safe and sound. She closed her eyes, not that she needed to but the familiar action was helpful in grounding her.

“Stop for a second,” she said.

Jesse complied.

She let the force flow through her. Let the various tunnels map out in her mind as she traced their paths. Let the history of hundreds of people walking these same tunnels imprint in her. Let their knowledge guide her. She found the thread she needed and latched on.

“Is there another hallway to the left? About fifty meters?”

“Yep. One fifty meters ahead to the left. Damn, you’re good, commander.” Jesse let out a whistle.

“Don’t celebrate yet,” She warned as they started moving once more. “I’m not sure if it’ll lead us anywhere but a dead end.”

“It’s better than wandering around blindly until we die of starvation,” Kix said.

They turned left down the hallway. In her mind, the path lit up, clear as day. She decided to let the force guide them. Turning right. Left. Going straight. Taking different branches of a Y. Occasionally stopping if she lost the connection or needed a chance to focus. Over and over and over again.

Each turn she worried that this would all be for nothing. She’d lead them down the wrong path. Get them stuck at a dead end. Walk right into their enemy, still hunting them in the shadows. She kept waiting for someone to argue with her. For someone to question how she knew all of this or ask why they should believe something they had no experience in.

But they didn’t. They didn’t hesitate. They didn’t question. They didn’t even double-check what she said. They trusted her, blindly. Sometimes, when she was alone after a battle, the weight of their expectations would crash down on her as she realized how much faith they had in her to lead them and keep them alive. It was truly a humbling experience. One that she struggled not to take for granted. They trusted her, so she needed to be as good of a commander as she could possibly be. There was no room for mistakes.

“I see stairs up ahead,” Jesse said.

“Thank the force, we can finally get out of here,” Hardcase muttered. “Any word from the captain?”

“None. Maybe the signal is blocked by being so far underground,” Jesse said. “I’ll keep trying him and let him know we’re heading out.”

“Hope he’s not dead,” Fives said.

“Don’t say that!” Ahsoka gasped. “I’m sure Rex and the others are fine. They probably made it out ages ago. Come on, we need to hurry.”

They made their way up what felt like hundreds of stairs. Each step, however, brought more and more light. The dingy grey walls were full of scuff marks and scratches and blaster shots from other battles that had been fought here.

She swallowed and looked away. She couldn’t change the past. She could only react to the present.

They reached the top of the staircase and came to another floor filled with hallways.

“We should be above ground now,” Echo said.

“Then let’s find a window or something,” Ahsoka said. “We should focus on escaping, not on engaging the enemy.”

“Oh, but commander, I just got some new weapons I wanted to try out!” Hardcase groaned.

“I think I’d rather live than wait around so that you have something to shoot,” Tup muttered.

She heard a sound that made her blood run cold.

A lightsaber ignited.

Echoing throughout the hallway.

“Scatter!” She shouted.

She didn’t wait for the men to follow her orders, instead using the force to push them into two hallways on either side of her before igniting her own. She whirled around to block just as the Sith jumped her.

Thankfully, the men were pretty used to getting tossed around with the force like rag-dolls and were able to recover quickly. They pulled their weapons and started firing at the Sith while Ahsoka worked to block him blow for blow. Unluckily, he had caught her by surprise, which meant she was on the defensive. She’d have to work hard to go on the offensive and gain the upper hand. Thankfully, with six troopers shooting at him, they had a good chance of that happening.

Anyone else would have felt nervous with so many shots bouncing around this close to their bodies, but not her. Just like the men trusted her to lead them out of the tunnels, she trusted them not to hit her by accident.

The Sith feinted to the right, a move she fell for. Now with most of her weight on her right leg to block a move that would never come, he took advantage and swept her feet out from under her.

Her lightsaber went rolling across the floor and she was now powerless to stop the blow that was about to come.

She heard Jesse let out a cry and there was a blur of white and blue as he tackled the Sith to the ground. Tup used this break to race out and chase her lightsaber down the hall.

“Commander, catch!” he cried, flinging it through the air.

Ahsoka caught it with ease just in time to duck as Jesse went sailing through the air, crashing into Tup and sending them both sprawling to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

The Sith whirled around where Echo and Fives were, using the force to grab ahold of Echo’s blaster and rip it out of his hands.

No!

He was going to kill them!

She couldn’t let that happen. She would do everything in her power to make sure no trooper died today.

She leaped onto the Sith’s back and sank her teeth into his neck.

He let out a cry, grabbed ahold of her arms, and ripped her off, tossing her to the floor. His attention was now solely on her. Perfect.

“Jesse, get them out of here! I’ll deal with this,” she shouted as Jesse and Tup made their way back to the room, and Echo retrieved his blaster. Or pulled out another one. At this point, she didn’t really know and she didn’t really care.

“Hell no! We’re not leaving you here to fight that monster by yourself.”

“That’s an order!” She didn’t like to order the troops around as a rule. Mostly because it made her uncomfortable and it felt like she was erasing their free will. But, when it came to their safety, nothing was more important.

“Not going to happen, commander!” Hardcase shouted. “So, either figure out something for us to do, or we’ll take charge.”

Of course, she forgot who she was dealing with. Most troopers seemed to have respect for their generals and a willingness to follow orders. 501st was not filled with the standard trooper. There was a time when her orders were law and they’d flee as soon as she said so. But, somewhere along the way, things changed. The troopers all seemed to agree that, unless there was another mission they had to complete, no one was left on their own to face a threat. They’d face it together and either live together or die together. She hated that.

“Haar’chak!” She lunged forward and drove her knee deep into the opponent’s gut, sending him stumbling back a few paces. This was the opening she was looking for. Now on the offensive, she leaped in the air and attacked.

He blocked, but the tide of battle was turned. Maybe, just maybe, they’d win this one.

“Language!” Kix shouted. “Jesse quit teaching her how to curse!”

“It’s a necessary part of the culture!” Jesse shouted back.

“Hukaat’kama!” Hardcase shouted as he leaped out from where he was hiding.

She felt his intention in the air, clear as day, and knew how to set her and Sith up. She spun herself around, the Sith following her as his back turned to Hardcase. He let out a roar as he shot round after round from his cannon.

The Sith anticipated this and Ahsoka only had a brief moment to realize before the Force slammed into her sternum. She flew down the hallway and crashed into the opposite wall, her head ringing and her body jolting from the shock.

“No, Hardcase!” She scrambled to her feet to run back. She wasn’t fast enough.

The Sith rounded on Hardcase and picked him up with ease, throwing him into Echo and Fives.

Tup threw some explosives onto the Sith’s cape. He let out a curse and ripped off the fabric, throwing it into the room Kix had taken shelter in. Ahsoka grabbed him with the force and threw him into where Echo, Fives, and Hardcase currently were; killing two birds with one stone as Kix managed to avoid the explosion and start scanning them to see who was alive and who was dead.

“Don’t forget I’m still around!” Ahsoka shouted, now back with the men and swinging her lightsaber at the Sith.

He blocked it easily. She was starting to get tired. Sloppy. If this fight went on for much longer, she’d lose. There was no way her body could keep up with this pace. And he knew it.

Jesse jumped on his back and shoved the taser into his neck. The Sith let out a cry, body briefly going rigid as electricity surrounded him in brilliant blue strikes of lightning.

It still wasn’t enough to bring him down as he grabbed Jesse by the throat and slammed him into the wall. Ahsoka was back on him, swinging her lightsaber in an arc and fully ready to bring it down on his head. He was forced to drop Jesse as he focused solely on her once more, matching her blow for blow, swing for swing, block for block. Though, her earlier assessment that she was quickly losing strength still held true. She would never be able to beat this man. And he knew it. She could feel him getting more and more confident in his victory.

Jesse swung back to his feet and started shooting him once more. This, along with Tup, Echo, and Fives meant he had four troopers and her that he was defending against. How he managed to do it was beyond her. But he was. And they were going to lose.

He deflected one of the blasts right back at Echo, who flew back against the wall and sank down, slumped over.

“Echo!” Fives cried.

His momentary distraction gave the Sith a chance to throw her, Tup, and Jesse into them. All landing in a tangled pile of limbs on the floor. Once more, she had lost her lightsaber. Furthermore, now all of them were in one room together. Trapped in a small, windowless space with only one exit. An exit currently blocked by the Sith. This was what he had been building to. This was all part of his plan.

He lifted his hands into the air and crushed them into fists. The building around them creaked.

Ahsoka knew what was coming; could feel it in her bones.

“No!” she shouted, lifting her hands and using every ounce of the Force she could muster before the ceiling crashed down around them.

It was only thanks to her quick thinking that she managed to keep it from crushing the others.

The Sith stood in front of her knew. She was kneeling on the ground, her body shaking from the weight of the debris. Somewhere behind her, Kix was frantically trying to help both Echo and Hardcase. Tup and Fives were sprawled out to her left. Jesse was to her right, unarmed, but still crouched in a position that told her he would be willing to try and fight this man with hand-to-hand combat, even if he’d lose.

The Sith had her lightsaber and his in his hands. He raised them up.

“Jesse, grab the others and run! As soon as I’m dead, this entire building is coming down!”

“There’s got to be some way to beat this bastard.”

“No. Not anymore. Just save yourselves and go. It’s me he wants.”

The Sith was amused by their exchange, waiting for them to finish. Toying with them. But he had had enough. He swung the lightsabers at her neck.

She flinched.

A blaster shot rang out through the room.

A body fell to the ground.

She peeled open her eyes to see the Sith lying face first in front of her. Behind him was Rex, his blaster still raised and ready to fire. Dogma, Denal, and Appo had their blasters raised and were looking for any other enemies.

“Well, a Deus ex Captain is certainly one way to win this,” Jesse said.

Anakin groaned from where he lay in front of her. “I can’t believe you bit me.”

He pushed himself up to his knees and waved his hands. The debris Ahsoka was holding released and landed to the side.

“I can’t believe you tried to drop a building on me!” Ahsoka cried.

Fives had managed to shake himself awake and helped her to her feet.

Anakin rubbed the back of his head. “I knew you’d catch it. Besides, it wasn’t the building. It was the ceiling of one room.”

“You know, this is why we aren’t allowed to use the training facilities on Coruscant anymore,” Appo sighed. “We always destroy them.”

Anakin simply shot him a lopsided grin and turned to Rex. “That was a cheap shot and you know it.”

“There is no such thing as a cheap shot in war, sir,” Rex replied, stoic as ever. “How you doing, Echo?”

“That hurt. A lot,” Echo grunted.

Kix came up to Anakin and slapped a bacta patch over where Ahsoka had bit him and Jesse had tased him. He then turned to her and said, “Arm.”

“Come on, Kix. Do I have to?” she whined.

“You know the rules. If you draw blood, I need to check and make sure you didn’t get infected with any blood-borne diseases. Now arm, or I tranq you and drag you to the med bay.”

She grumbled and held out her arm while Kix took a sample.

“Should I be worried you biting people happens often enough that Kix has a protocol on how to handle it?” Anakin asked, handing her back her lightsaber.

“You want to discourage her from biting her enemies?” Fives asked.

“She gets it from Wolffe, you know,” Echo added.

Anakin shook his head and turned to leave.

“Aren’t you going to say something?” Ahsoka asked, glaring at him.

The troopers around them snickered.

“Oh, um, good job, Snips. Great teamwork,” Anakin said as he hurried out the door.

Ahsoka chased after him. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

“What do I have to say? I gave you praise. Unless you’d like me to tell you all the things you did wrong.” He shrugged, doing his best to look innocent and confused at her question.

Her face twisted into a scowl. “We won. Which means—”

“Nope. You didn’t win.”

“Did too! Rex shot you in the back of the head. In what galaxy is that not winning?”

“Yes, but Echo died. Hardcase may have also died.”

“Nope. Just unconscious,” Kix said.

Ahsoka kicked his shin. “You never said all of us had to survive. You just said we had to last ten minutes against you while you weren’t holding back. And we did that. And we beat you!”

“The point of the training exercise isn’t to win,” Anakin argued. “It’s to hold your own against a Sith until help can arrive. Hence the ten-minute rule. You didn’t make it ten minutes. You only made it nine.”

Appo leaned over to Dogma. “Should we step in or…”

“No, let them argue it out,” he replied.

“We didn’t last ten minutes because Rex killed you! That should count as a win!”

“I had you unarmed and pinned down. One trooper dead. Two unarmed. Three unconscious. You would have lost if he hadn’t shown up.”

“But he did. If you didn’t want him to show up, then you shouldn’t have let him be the second squad!”

“All this for some extra free time tonight?” Tup whispered to Fives.

“Free time and credits to go get some actual good food and not whatever crap they’re serving in the mess.”

“And the chance to go to 79’s!” Hardcase said, grinning ear to ear as he slapped Echo on the back.

They exited the training compound.

“We need an impartial judge!” Ahsoka said, making a beeline to where Obi-wan and Cody were standing. “Master Kenobi, Commander Cody, what do you think? Did we win or not?”

“I do not want to get in the middle of this,” Cody said, not looking up from his datapad as he continued to work on paperwork.

Ahsoka knew he was a lost cause and turned to Obi-wan, doing her best ‘tooka eyes’ (as Rex liked to call them) and looked as pleading and innocent as possible to sway him to her side.

Obi-wan stroked his beard, looking quite amused at her attempt. “I don’t know, Anakin. It does feel a bit counter-productive to discourage your men from getting the job done faster.”

“Master!”

“Hah!” Ahsoka jumped in the air, pumping her fist. “Master Kenobi said we win! Which means I can go out and get as much junk food as I want.”

Rex cleared his throat.

“As much junk food as twenty credits will get me.” She quickly corrected.

“That’s not what he said!” Anakin cried.

“Too late, Skyguy!” Ahsoka laughed and grabbed the credits from him. She grabbed Tup’s hand and dragged him to the door. “Come on, guys. Before he can stop us.”

The troopers were quick to chase after her.

“You all are traitors!” Anakin called. “I’m your boss, not her!”

Rex let out a long-suffering sigh. “I should probably go make sure they don’t destroy Coruscant. Or get themselves arrested by Fox.”

“One second, Rex,” Anakin said.

He turned back to him and Obi-wan. “Sir?”

“Have you noticed anything strange going on with the troops lately?”

Rex furrowed his brows. “I don’t know what you mean. They seem the same to me.”

Obi-wan came down, Cody trailing dutifully behind him though he still had his head buried in the datapad.

“It’s nothing bad,” he assured him. “But we have noticed they seem to have more inside jokes.”

“Something about noodle arms and a Z-6?” Anakin asked.

Cody and Rex both froze.

Rex immediately considered his options. It would be easier to just come clean about the whole ‘Creche to Command’ thing and be done with it. He knew General Skywalker and General Kenobi wouldn’t care. They’d probably be more amused than anything. Besides, General Koon already knew, and with all the kids in the Temple and the Troopers watching it regularly, they’d learn about it eventually.

But, it was also Ahsoka’s project. He felt like she should be the one to tell them. She clearly didn’t want them to know, probably for similar reasons that she didn’t want him to know. Telling them now could be a breach of trust.

He glanced at Cody, who kept his face impassive and focused on the datapad. He was letting Rex take the lead on this. Dammit. And here he was hoping to not have to make any difficult decisions.

In the end, Ahsoka won out. Rather, he decided to give her a chance to tell them.

“I’ll ask around and see what’s going on,” Rex responded.

Skywalker and Kenobi both seemed to know that he knew more than he was letting on. Damn Jedi and their damn mind-reading abilities. Was it so hard to ask a man for privacy with his own thoughts?

“Of course,” Kenobi said. “Good shot today during training. If you keep this up, you might just be able to hold your own against a Sith completely.” He knocked a knuckle against Rex’s armor and went off.

Anakin didn’t say anything, instead looking at him strangely. As if he wanted to ask more.

Rex sighed. “Sir, I’m not going to let them do anything stupid or dangerous. I will talk to the men, but I can’t promise anything more than that.”

He sighed and nodded. “I understand. And I trust you. Now, maybe go make sure Ahsoka doesn’t buy her weight in gummy candy again. I swear, last time we had to scrape Hardcase off the ceiling he was so hopped up on sugar.”

“I’ll try my best, sir.” He left the training room to chase after his wayward squad before they could get themselves into even more trouble. And don’t think he didn’t hear Hardcase’s comment about 79’s. He was going to have to come up with something creative to keep them all from Fox’s drunk tank. Ahsoka’s last episode of ‘Creche to Command’ gave him an idea as to what that could possibly be.

*****

“This is way more than twenty credits worth of junk food,” Rex said as he surveyed the damage.

“We’ve been saving up,” Fives responded simply as he tossed yet more food onto the pile.

Maybe Rex was getting old, but damn did most of this stuff look like it would hurt his stomach to eat. He also noticed Jesse had slipped some bottles of dark ale into the pile. He decided to ignore that. So long as they weren’t getting drunk enough to warrant Fox’s men coming to round them up, he was okay with alcohol.

Ahsoka and the others had a veritable mountain in the center of their barracks. He didn’t even know what half of this stuff was! He winced as Hardcase grabbed something that was probably stuffed full of sugar and tipped the entire thing into his mouth.

“Just so you know, if Hardcase gets hopped up on sugar again, you’ll be the ones dealing with him.” He was so glad he shared a bunk with Cody when they were on Coruscant. He would probably kill Hardcase if he had to deal with his sugar-high ass tonight.

Jesse popped the top off an ale. “Hey, kid, want a sip?”

Rex whipped towards him, unable to stop Ahsoka as her eyes lit up and she took a swig.

“Copaani mirshmure’cye, vod?” He cried. Oh, yeah, Jesse was definitely going to be running laps for this.

“Relax,” Jesse said. “Wouldn’t you rather she have her first drink here with her vod’e than in some dive bar surrounded by besom?”

Thankfully, Ahsoka’s face pinched and she shook her head. She shoved the bottle back at Jesse. “That’s disgusting. Why would anyone ever drink that?”

“You get used to it,” Fives said, undoing his armor and setting it down on the ground.

“I don’t think I want to get used to it.”

“Good. Hold onto that,” Rex said.

Fives laughed at him. “Relax, alor’ad. It’s not like we’re dragging her to that dance bar and leaving her alone.”

Hardcase laughed. “You’re turning red there, captain. Kix, is the captain about to die from a stroke?”

“I want no part in this!” Kix called. “The less I know about what you’re putting into your bodies, the better I’ll be able to sleep tonight.”

At least someone still had their head screwed on right.

“This was a mistake,” he groaned.

“We can still go to 79’s,” Jesse said. “Tup hasn’t been yet. And they don’t have an age limit which means the commander can go as well.”

“Are you trying to get me to kill you? Because you’re doing a very good job at pressing all my buttons.”

“Lek, lek,” Fives grumbled. “You should relax more. Maybe you need a vacation. You, Fox, Cody, and the rest of the commanders. A nice day out on the beach.”

“You can even leave me in charge!” Jesse kicked his foot.”

“And risk you getting thrown in Fox’s drunk tank? I don’t think so. I’m trying to keep you di’kute out of trouble, thank you very much.”

Thankfully, Echo walked in the door, distracting Jesse, Fives, and Hardcase from doing anything else stupid.

“Got the paints!” he called, rattling a bag of brushes and holding up a paint can of signature 501st blue. “Good call on the touch-ups, captain. We’re all starting to look a bit faded.”

And it would keep them from making too much trouble in the city until Rex could get them back on a ship and out into the field.

Ahsoka clapped her hands excitedly and turned to him. “Can I do your helmet?”

“You could do your own armor,” he said. Though, he still handed her his helmet without complaint.

“Hey, no fair. I was hoping you’d help me with mine,” Hardcase whined.

“I’ll help you after I’m done with Rex’s.” She grabbed a paintbrush and dipped it in the paint before carefully tracing the lines. “And we’ve been over this before. I don’t need armor.”

He made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. He could think up a thousand reasons on the spot why she and Skywalker needed armor, but it was pointless. All troopers had this conversation with their Jedi at least once a month. Sometimes more. Poor Bly was reduced to tears when he was first assigned to Secura’s battalion. He had argued with her for a week straight before finally dropping it. But only after Bacara had stepped in and explained to him that jedis were idiots and it wasn’t going to happen. The only trooper that successfully got their Jedi to wear any sort of armor was Cody. Though, that was only after nearly three months of constant negotiations that finally ended in a compromise of only wearing partial armor. And was that really a win?

That was why he let the armor argument drop. He still had hopes that one of these days he’d wrestle her into something a bit more fitting for battle. Today was not that day. Besides, they had other things to talk about. With everyone comfortably settling in and a feeling of contentment falling over the group, he decided now was as good of a time as any to talk.

“By the way,” he said as casually as possible, “Kenobi and Skywalker are getting suspicious.”

“’Bout what?” Ahsoka asked. She stuck out her tongue and carefully started filling in the blue. The new paint stood brightly against the chipped, faded lines he had done so long ago.

“Creche to Command.”

She froze. “Do they know about it?”

“Nope. Just letting you know.”

“Okay.” She went back to painting.

She was going to drag this out, wasn’t she?

“I’m letting you know so you can tell them before they find out.”

Ahsoka didn’t answer, focused only on painting. Not looking him in the eye. Around him, everyone else had stopped talking. The air was thick with anticipation. Each trooper held their breath, trying to gauge whether this would end with an explosive argument, or something else. Sometimes it was hard to tell with Ahsoka. She could seem so mature and even-tempered one minute only to swing to some other extreme the next minute. He wondered if it was a teenage thing or a PTSD thing. Maybe both? He hadn’t been a teenager for very long and the Kaminoans would not have tolerated any emotional outbursts which lead to him and everyone else suppressing a whole lot of emotions, so it wasn’t like he was an expert by any means.

Either way, he should probably ease her mind before things escalated. This wasn’t supposed to be an argument or an ambush. This was supposed to be a way for her to take control of the situation.

“I think you should tell them,” he said. “General Koon already found out. I can’t imagine General Skywalker and General Kenobi would be any less accepting than him. And, it’s better that you tell them before they find out from another source. That way you can be in complete control of the conversation.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want them to find out,” Ahsoka mumbled, relaxing just a bit when she realized he wasn’t going to argue with her. “I like having something that’s just for me. No involvement from my master. Something that can just be silly, stupid fun. No one else butting in and telling me what to do.”

“You think he’s going to try and take control?” Tup asked.

“No. But right now it feels special. And… I don’t know. It’s like, if he finds out about it, it’ll feel less special. You know?”

“If you’re worried about him judging you for it, don’t be,” Rex said.

The conversation he had had with her last week still rang in his head. Ahsoka fears that he wouldn’t approve because it wasn’t ‘useful’ or ‘improving her skills in combat and leadership’. He still felt guilty he made her feel like she couldn’t have any fun. Or at least contributed to the already crushing weight of her responsibilities.

Given the way Ahsoka flinched, he knew he was on the right track.

“Look, vod’ika,” when in doubt, use that title to soften her, “I know you look up to your master as some sort of all-knowing, all-powerful Jedi. But he’s not. He’s—”

“An idiot,” Kix cut in. “Just like the rest of our aliit. The entire 501st. All idiots. Except for me.”

“And the captain,” Hardcase said.

“No, he’s the biggest idiot of them all. He’s just tricked you into thinking he’s not.”

Rex glared at him. “I disagree with that last statement, but you are right in saying that Skywalker is just like the rest of us. He has his weird quirks too that you probably find ridiculous and stupid.”

“Like his attachment to the spanner,” Ahsoka said.

“He still hasn’t gotten rid of that thing,” Jesse sighed. “It’s now just sitting in his room. Never to be used again but also not getting thrown in the trash anytime soon because he’s a di’kut.”

She laughed softly at that.

“He’s right, you know,” Echo said. “It’s already made its way around to all the clones in the GAR. Most of the younglings at the temple have seen it and now several civilians are watching it. It’s only a matter of time before the rest of the Jedi find out. If you tell General Skywalker and General Kenobi, they can be on your side.”

She groaned. “Fine. I’ll tell him. But after I’m done repainting Rex’s armor.”

“And after we film our video!” Jesse was quick to cut in. “I’m not saying they’re going to shut it down, but you never know. And I want my time in the spotlight. It’s going to be great.”

He grinned in a way that told Rex he was definitely up to something.

“Yeah, I’m definitely going to need to be there for that,” he muttered. Seriously, they only had like three rules to follow and they couldn’t even manage that!

No cursing.
No sex jokes
Don’t give away our position

“Oh, so Fives can get away with that right-hand joke but I’m the one you need to watch?” He flicked paint at Rex’s face.

He glared at him. “You already gave Ahsoka alcohol. You’re on thin ice.”

Jesse had the self-preservation instincts to let out an ‘eep’ and go back to painting his armor without much more fuss.

“I still don’t get the joke,” Ahsoka said, looking at Echo with those damn eyes that could make anyone melt.

Thankfully, Echo had some sort of resistance to them and scoffed. “Don’t expect me to tell you. I value not getting thrown out the airlock, thank you very much.”

She glowered and flicked paint at him.

“Hey!” Echo cried, flicking paint back at her.

“Children, all of them,” he sighed.

Still, he couldn’t be mad with the events of the evening. The conversation didn’t end in an argument and he could tell Ahsoka would talk to Skywalker. Eventually. He’d give her a push if she hadn’t by the end of the week. For now, all he had to do was make sure Hardcase didn’t end up with a sugar high and bouncing off the walls and the rest of his vod’e didn’t end up drunk. Just because they were in the barracks didn’t mean they couldn’t cause some trouble. Next time, he was going to ask Ahsoka to wager something that wasn’t so stress-inducing for him. Like a nice battalion-wide meditation retreat on Naboo.

Then again, Naboo probably wasn’t the best place to go since Skywalker and Amidala were the galaxy’s worst-kept secret. Damn, was no place in the galaxy safe from Torrent’s idiocy?

Cody would argue no. No there was not.

*****
Ahsoka wrung her hands as she paced in front of her master’s quarters at the Temple. She had been pacing back and forth for about fifteen minutes now, trying and failing to buck up the courage to talk to him.

Despite her telling Rex that she would, it had been nearly a week since their conversation. If someone were to ask her why it took so long, she’d say it was because she wanted to finish up Jesse’s video and get it posted. In case the entire project came crashing down around her and she was forced to stop the entire thing. That would be a lie.

She knew Anakin wouldn’t be mad at her. He probably wouldn’t even be disappointed. He probably wouldn’t even care! But, she still hesitated. Like Rex, she wanted his approval. She wanted him to be proud of her. She wanted him to tell her ‘good job’ or ‘excellent work’. This little project she had started (that was starting to get very out of hand if she thought about how many non-younglings and non-troopers were watching it) wasn’t likely to garner any sort of praise or appreciation. In fact, it might just garner some scorn.

No matter what she told herself about Anakin’s reaction, there was always a chance he’d see it as a childish waste of time. He’d wrinkle his nose in disdain and ask, ‘This is what you do in your spare time? If you have enough time for this, you have enough time for more lightsaber drills.’

Again, it probably wasn’t going to happen. That didn’t help the fear from lingering. Festering. Twisting itself into something that closed the back of her throat and made her want to hide.

“Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering,” she mumbled to herself.

The words rattled around her brain. Would she really fall to the dark side because she was afraid her master wouldn’t approve of her stupid holonet series? That felt like kind of an overreaction. Besides, the fear itself was stupid.

She was a Jedi! She wasn’t supposed to be afraid of anything! Or have attachments to anyone!

Please ignore the fact that she literally saw the troopers as her brothers and called them as such. At least, in her mind. She had never said the word vod out loud and her butchering of the word besom had been her first and last attempt to speak Mando’a. The troopers seemed more than willing to throw around all sorts of endearments when it came to her. She felt like doing the same would open up a can of worms she wasn’t ready for.

“I guess I’m not a very good Jedi,” she groaned.

Yet more things she needed to unpack. Probably with the help of a lot of meditation. That was future Ahsoka’s problem. Present Ahsoka’s problem was bucking up and telling Anakin that in her free time, she made stupid videos with the rest of the 501st and posted them on the holonet for people to watch.

She didn’t get the chance to buck up the courage or pace back and forth any longer. Anakin’s door opened and she found herself face-to-face with her master.

“What’s up, Snips? Something the matter?”

“Um, I need to tell you about something,” she blurted out before she could talk herself out of this conversation.

Anakin swept past her and headed to the council room. She had to jog to keep up with him. Damn him and his long legs! One day, she was going to be taller than him and he’d have to jog to keep up with her!

“Is it going to kill you?”

“What? No.”

“Is it going to kill one of the men?”

“No.”

“Is anyone going to get arrested or tried for treason because of it?”

She had to think about that one for a second. “Um, I don’t think so?”

“Then can it wait until after the council meeting? I’m late as is.”

She stopped her awkward jog as Anakin continued to march forward at a hurried pace.

“Oh. Okay then.” She hadn’t realized, but she had actually been looking forward to getting this off her chest. And now she’d have to wait.

He paused and turned to her. Smiling, he said, “Hey, I can sense you’re nervous about something. Whatever it is, I’m here to support you. We’ll talk after. I promise. I’ll come straight to you as soon as the meeting is over. Okay?”

Something about the soft, gentle tone of his voice eased her mind just a bit. She nodded. “Yeah, okay. Thanks, master.”

“In the meantime, you can see if Rex can help put your mind at ease. I think he and Cody were going to talk to Fox about something.” He rubbed the top of her head. Then, turned and swept down the hallway before she could respond.

Once he was out of sight, she groaned and thumped her head against the wall. “Oh, yeah. Talk to Rex and Cody. They’ll both just say I should have talked to you ages ago.”

Oh well. She had already waited a week. What were two more hours? Then again… maybe this was the Force’s way of telling her she wasn’t supposed to tell Anakin today.

She wondered if Rex would buy that excuse.

*****
Anakin hated council meetings. He hated council meetings more than he hated meditation and drinking tea with Obi-wan as his former master tried and failed once more to teach him the finer points of negotiations.

Council meetings were dull, boring wastes of time that were a product of a bygone era. Most of the stuff they discussed could be a message sent over the holonet. Half the time, he didn’t even say anything! He just sat there waiting for it to be over. Then, when it was over, he thanked the council members for their time as if he had contributed something! It seemed like the only reason they still had these Force-damn meetings was because some of the old-as-dirt council members with sticks up their asses about protocol and ‘the Jedi way’ couldn’t be bothered to how to use a datapad. Not Master Yoda, of course. He was surprisingly technologically literate. But the rest of the council? Boring. Useless. Pointless.

He couldn’t be the only one who thought this either. He swore he once caught Luminara rolling her eyes and looking at Aayla with an expression that screamed ‘I hate that we have to listen to these idiots’. She claimed she didn’t know what he was talking about. He knew better. He had practically made the eye-rolling into an art form. Only surpassed by Ahsoka.

This meeting was shaping up to be just as dull, boring, and useless as all the other meetings he had ever attended. Several times, he caught himself falling asleep. Or, rather, Obi-wan caught him falling asleep and elbowed him in the ribs so he would wake up. Why did he ever want to become a Jedi knight in the first place? Padawans didn’t have to attend nearly as many meetings! Was it possible to go back to being a padawan after being knighted? He should look that up later.

He managed to keep his eyes open for almost thirty minutes at one point. The drones of countless Jedi giving reports on their various missions faded into the background as his mind wandered to Ahsoka.

Part of the reason he was late in the first place was because he could feel her through the door. Just a great, big, bundle of nerves. He had waited, hoping she would buck up the courage to talk to him. Eventually, though, he had to leave. He was pushing his luck with the council as is. He hated to do it. Clearly, something was bothering her. The only thing easing his mind for the moment was the fact that it didn’t feel as if she were in any danger.

He wondered if it had to do with the conversation he had had with Rex a few days ago. Don’t think he didn’t notice him and Cody freezing up when they mentioned noodle arms and the Z-6. Troopers were terrible liars (probably by design), and being a Jedi made it all the easier to tell when they were hiding something. Rex knew what was going on with the men. Cody knew what was going on with the men. And his careful wording that he’d ‘talk to them’, instead of ‘get to the bottom of it’ made Anakin even more sure that he knew what was going on.

He didn’t think it was a coincidence that he talked to Rex one day. And then not long after he had a nervous Ahsoka pacing outside his door for nearly twenty minutes. At least someone was keeping tabs on her and the situation. And at least Ahsoka was open enough with Rex to talk to him about it.

But what was going on?

What could possibly be impacting the troopers and Ahsoka? And why was she the one to talk to him and not someone else? Just how involved was she in this mess?

All these questions could potentially be answered if this damn meeting would finish up! Seriously, how many times did they have to talk about unpopulated moons where nothing happened?

Thankfully, Master Windu called the meeting to a close. “I believe that’s all we have for the day,” he said.

Finally! Anakin started gathering up his things, ready to run out the door and hunt down Ahsoka.

“At least pretend like you weren’t bored out of your mind,” Obi-wan whispered with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Anakin rolled his eyes.

“Actually,” Master Fisto butted in.

Force, no! Please! Just let him leave already! Even if his padawan wasn’t up to something, this long of a meeting was torture!

“I was wondering if anyone else’s troops have been acting strange as of late,” he finished.

This grabbed his attention. It wasn’t just the 501st and the 212th that were acting weird? He hadn’t even considered that possibility. They had assumed it was only their men because the two battalions were very close. The fact that Master Fisto’s troops also seemed to be caught up in it was… interesting to say the least. A little nerve-wracking. Ahsoka had said whatever was going on wasn’t going to get anyone killed or arrested, but if this extended to a bigger portion of the troops… He didn’t know how he felt about that.

“My troops have been acting a little strange lately, now that you mention it,” Aayla said.

“As have mine. More inside jokes,” Luminara added.

“Noodle arms and a Z-6?” Master Windu said.

Okay. Something weird was definitely going on here.

“That and my troopers have been curious to know what they smell like,” Master Ti said.

“Smell?” Anakin said. Now that he thought of it, he had caught a couple of his troopers asking Ahsoka that same question. And then asking her if they smelled better or worse than Jesse.

“Anakin and I have just had a talk with Captain Rex and Commander Cody about this very topic,” Obi-wan said, stroking his beard. He sounded like he was getting a kick out of this.

Anakin was not. Ahsoka was caught up in this. He did not want Ahsoka to be caught up in anything this big.

“And?” Master Yoda asked. He also seemed like he was having way too much fun with this. Like he already knew what was going on.

Anakin wouldn’t put it past him. Master Yoda always seemed to know what was going on and was simply sitting back and letting things run their course.

“They said they’d talk to the troops,” Obi-wan responded with a shrug. “Though, I have a feeling what they really meant was that they’d convince the troops to come clean. I had no idea it was affecting you as well.”

“It might be a good idea to start questioning the troops,” Master Krell said. “In case they’ve been compromised.”

It was at this moment that Master Koon sighed heavily and stepped forward. “I will have to apologize to my commander for this. I did promise I wouldn’t say anything, but now it appears I have no choice.”

Wait! Master Koon knew what was going on? And Wolffe asked him not to say anything? Just how big was this thing?

“Know what is going on, you do?” Master Yoda asked. Oh yeah. He definitely knew what was going on and was simply sitting back and watching them all squirm for fun. A frustratingly common occurrence.

“Yes. It is nothing so grievous as General Krell is implying.”

Krell scowled at him and crossed his arms.

“I find it quite entertaining, actually. It appears the younglings at the Temple approached Padawan Tano a few weeks ago and asked her for a look into life as a commander to ease their transitions.”

The result was instantaneous and simultaneous. All eyes whipped towards him.

He held up his hands in an attempt to placate the group. “Don’t look at me. This is the first time I’m hearing about it as well.”

Master Koon chuckled. “It’s merely a holonet series that has appeal to both younglings and troopers alike. My men have already used it successfully to help some village children trust us. Harmless levity in a war that demands so much from our children. I shall send you the latest video.”

“Should we be concerned about this?” Master Windu asked.

Master Koon shook his head. “No. I am of the understanding that Captain Rex is monitoring and approving every transmission before it is released. Therefore, no intelligence can be gained that might impact the war.”

Once more, all eyes whipped toward him.

“Again. I didn’t know. And I will definitely be having a talk with my padawan after this.”

“I suppose if it makes the men and the younglings happy and doesn’t compromise safety, we can let them have their fun,” Aalya said.

“It might even be good for morale,” Master Fisto added. “Master Koon is right. The war demands so much from all of us. Sometimes it is good to have a little fun.”

Anakin breathed a sigh of relief. Yeah, he got why Ahsoka was so nervous now. The council may have decided it was too… something and forced her to get rid of it.

The meeting (finally) let out and on his datapad was a link from Master Koon to a video. Ahsoka wasn’t still hanging around his chambers so he decided to watch it before seeking her out. After all, he wanted to know what he was getting himself into.

*****

Episode 3: Slang! With! Jesse!

Ahsoka and Jesse stood in front of a board. Jesse looked like he was about ready to vibrate right out of armor he was so excited.

“Hi, guys! Welcome back. Today we’re going to go over the various slang terms you’ll hear the troopers use.” Ahsoka said brightly.

“It’ll help when you’re in battle and you hear some trooper say ‘Watch my six, I got clankers on the inbound, vod’ so that you know what they’re talking about,” Jesse added. “Also, Fives, don’t think I didn’t hear your comment about my tattoo! ‘It’s stupid’, says the guy with the number five tattooed on his head. Real original, pal! I’m going to get you back, vod Just you wait. I’ll figure out a way to shave off one of your eyebrows. Or dye your stupid goatee purple.”

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. “Jesse, those are all weak. And not very permanent. And we’ve already done most of them to other troopers. You need to go bigger than that. Think outside the box. Come on, that’s what the 501st is known for!”

Jesse looked at her, eyebrow raised. “Oh yeah? And what do you suggest, commander?”

She smiled, showing off several razor-sharp teeth. Standing on her tip-toes, she whispered something in Jesse’s ear.

He grinned, with an evil look in his eye. “Oh, that’s brilliant. You are evil, commander. We’ll do it before this video goes out though. Yeah?”

She nodded. “Of course. Wouldn’t want him to have a heads-up. Now then, back to slang. It’s pretty straightforward. But it’ll help a lot to know what people are saying. Also, you don’t have to use any of this slang. The troopers will know what you’re talking about either way. This is just to help you feel more acquainted with the language you’ll hear most around the battalion. And sometimes it’s quicker to use it than to explain what you’re doing in proper common.”

“Right. Right. Now, there are four main categories we’re going to go over today.”

Ahsoka looked at him. “I thought there were only three categories?”

“The fourth one I added last minute. Don’t worry, you’re going to love it,” Jesse said, waving a dismissive hand at her.

“Jesse,” Captain Rex said somewhere off-camera, the warning clear in his voice.

“Don’t worry, captain. Just go back to your boring paperwork. And don’t you have a meeting in a few minutes?”

Captain Rex grumbled something difficult to hear.

“Right,” Ahsoka said. “So, the first category is general military terms.”

Jesse turned to the board and wrote down a series of words. “First up: CO. CO stands for Commanding Officer. These are you generals, admirals, captains, commanders, and lieutenants. Basically, anyone of a higher rank than you.”

“If someone tells you to ‘go ask your CO’, that means go ask whoever is in charge that isn’t you,” Ahsoka said. “Another note, Captains are technically lower rank than commanders, but if you’re a padawan, they can still be a wealth of useful information and guidance. Isn’t that right, Rex?”

Rex didn’t answer.

“Eh, he’s just being his normal grumpy self. I swear, all clone COs were designed to have a massive stick up their—”

“I will shoot you!” Rex shouted.

“Never mind, never mind,” Jesse held his hands up in surrender. “You know he’s ticked off when he goes straight for shooting instead of the airlock threat. Alright, moving on before Captain No Fun kills me. ‘Watch my Six’ means ‘watch my back’. And in a similar vein, ‘cover me’ means ‘I’m not able to shoot at the things currently shooting at me, so please shoot them for me while I do whatever I need to do’.”

“Yup. Both of these can be said if you need to move position, focus on defusing a bomb, basically anything where your full attention cannot be at the droids shooting at you.” Ahsoka explained.

“Right you are, commander. ‘Sitrep’ is another one you’ll hear a lot. It’s short for ‘situation report’. Basically means ‘Tell me what’s going on. Who’s shooting at us? Who’s dead? Who’s injured? How close are we to finishing up our mission.’ And so on and so on. That about covers it for the military terms you'll here. So, next up, we’re going to go through what I like to call ‘clone-ialisms. Eh? Get it? Like colloquialisms but for clones?” Jesse looked much too proud of himself for coming up with that one.

Ahsoka put a hand to her heart. “Oh, ouch. That physically hurt me.”

He elbowed her. “You’re just mad you didn’t think of it first.”

“I’m just mad I had to suffer through hearing that. Anyways, these are phrases that are more unique to the troopers. They have their own pretty diverse slang that they use on a regular basis.”

“Comment below if you think my ‘clone-ialism’ is a stroke of genius.”

“Please don’t.”

“Afraid you’ll be proven wrong?”

“Afraid you’ll have your heart broken when you see everyone else in the galaxy has good taste.”

He glared at her. “Whatever. First up: clanker. Clanker refers to any droid that’s part of the separatist army and trying to shoot you. All clankers are droids, not all droids are clankers. It can also just mean ‘enemy droid currently trying to kill me’.”

“And, since many of you have heard the term before, ‘Shiny’ is another one used a lot.”

“It’s referring to very new troopers. Cause their armor’s all shiny and new,” he explained. “They don’t have a chance to paint it or get it dirty from battle. You’ll be shiny too one day. Stepping off your transport ships. Everyone is shiny at some point. So don’t worry too much about it. It’s less a dig at you and more to let people know you might need a little more help.”

“Right you are, Jesse.”

“Finally, we have ‘batch-mate’.”

“Troopers are decanted in batches where they do everything together,” Ahsoka said. “They train together. Eat together. Bunk together. And, unless they’re part of a special training program, they’ll often be placed in the same battalion together.”

“Troopers might all look the same, and we do consider each other brothers, but most of us will have a special bond with our batchmates.”

“And the final category?”

“Second to last.”

“Right, sorry. I’m curious as to what this last category is. So, let’s get this out of the way: Mando’a! Mando’a is the language of the people of Mandalore. A lot of troopers pepper various words into their regular speech,” Ahsoka said.

“The man whose DNA we all come from was originally from Mandalore,” Jesse added. “The troopers are in a very unique position where we don’t really have a culture or place to call our own. We don’t have ancestors, tribes, or even a homeworld. Because of that, most of us learned Mando’a to try and connect us to the galaxy as a whole. You all have a history you can draw on. We don’t. So we’ve essentially created our own culture and language.”

“You’ll hear it often, especially if you spend a lot of time with your men. Which you should, considering you’re all in this war together. But, it’s rarely ever spoken to non-troopers,” Ahsoka explained. “That is to say, you’ll hear it, but it probably won’t be directed at you. And you aren’t expected to understand it or respond in Mando’a.”

“Right.” He nodded. “Also, it’s not Mando’a proper. We might use terms in different contexts. Switch up tenses. Attach our own meanings to words and whatnot. Remember, we’re not from Mandalore. We’re merely trying to give ourselves a sense of identity. Same with the armor. So don’t be a grammar-sith and correct us if we get something wrong. We’re not Mandalorians. We’re troopers. An entirely distinct people.”

“And with that out of the way, I think we can get started. Jesse, what do you want to start with.”

He turned to the board and threw up several more words. “The most common one you’ll hear is ’vod. This just means ‘brother’. Or ‘sister’ I guess, but there are no female clones that I know of so to us it just means ‘brother’. ’Ori’vod’ means ‘older brother’ and vod’ika means ‘little brother’.”

“Another one you’ll hear is ‘lek’” Ashoka said. “It means ‘yeah’. And, if you’re Kix or Rex, they’ll throw ’di’kut’ around. A lot.”

“Which means ‘idiot’. And I would argue we are not idiots.”

“Debatable,” Rex grumbled.

“Hukaat’kama means ‘watch my six’,” Ahsoka said, hurrying the conversation along before Rex and Jesse could start brawling.

“Oh, this is a fun one. Fox, Cody, and Wolffe love this one. Ib’tuur jatne tuur ash’ad kyr’amur.”

“Oh, yeah. I’ve heard Wolffe shout that before the rips the heads off of droids with his bare hands. And Cody usually says that before a battle. I always forget to ask what it means,” Ahsoka said.

“It’s a Mandalorian saying. ‘Today is a good day for someone else to die.’”

“Yup, that definitely sounds like Wolffe.”

“If you ever hear a trooper say this, especially a commander, and it’s directed at you. Just give up. Don’t even try and run. It’s too late. They’ll hunt you down and finish you.”

“And now I know why Fox says it before they chase after the various assassins that target the senators. Anything else for the mando’a slang?”

At this, Jesse looked a bit sad. “There is one more you should know. Now, when you hear this, just know it is not the time for jokes. It’s a somber statement. You’ll probably hear it after every battle. If you do hear it, just give the troopers some space and time. It’s how we process grief. Nu kyr’adyc, shi taab’echaaj’la. ‘Not gone, merely marching far away.’ It’s what we say to honor our fallen brothers.”

Ahsoka put a hand on his arm, offering him a bit of comfort as he no doubt remembered his own losses. Both recent and old.

Jesse took a breath and shook off his sadness. “This is supposed to be a fun show so let’s not linger on sad things anymore. Besides, we got one more category to go!”

She clapped her hands together. “Oh, I’m so excited.”

His face split into a wide grin. He glanced toward where Rex was sitting off-camera. There was a look in his eyes that screamed ‘I am about to get in so much trouble and I do not regret it one bit’. Even Ahsoka seemed to sense this as she backed away from him.

He whipped back towards the camera. “I’m going to teach all you baby Jedi how to curse in fifty-six different languages!”

The words were barely out of his mouth before a chair clattered to the floor. Ahsoka had barely enough time to hop up on the table as a blue and white blur rushed at Jesse, knocking over the board. Jesse let out a screech and scrambled away.

“Haar’chak! Nayc, nayc, alor’ad! I don’t even know fifty-six languages!” Jesse yelped Rex chased him around the room.

Ahsoka merely sighed and settled on the table. Behind her was a loud crashing sound.

“He doesn’t know how to fluently speak fifty-six languages, but he does know curse words in fifty-six languages,” she said.

“You taught her how to curse!”

“Ahsoka, vod’ika! Gaa’tayl!”

“I’m not going to help you, Jesse. You knew this would happen which was why you didn’t tell me in the first place.” She rolled her eyes. “Well, I suppose it wouldn’t be an episode of ‘Creche to Command’ without something happening at the end. I’ll see you guys next time. Jesse…”

There was a loud crash from somewhere else in the room.

“May or may not be alive. Bye, guys!” She waved as the video cut to black.

*****
Ahsoka had holed herself up in the library after Anakin went to his council meeting. She wasn’t hiding from Rex. Really! She wasn’t! She was… researching! It was very important for a padawan to research things.

What was she researching?

Um…

Secret padawan stuff!

Oh, who was she kidding? She was avoiding talking to Anakin, who now knew something was up. And she was avoiding talking to Rex, who said that if she didn’t talk to Anakin by the end of the week, he’d go tell him.

“Why is this so hard?” She groaned, thumping her head on the table.

“There you are, Snips,” Anakin called from the other end of the room. “I’ve been looking all over for you. Sorry, it took so long. That meeting went on forever. I swear, some of these masters just like to hear themselves talk.

He pulled up a chair and sat next to her.

Great. Just what she wanted. Why couldn’t he have gone and done something else? Why did he have to be here?

“So, about our conversation earlier,” he started.

She flinched. “We don’t have to talk about it. Rex and Cody were very helpful.”

“Is that so?” He quirked an eyebrow.

Something told her she should come clean now.

She ignored that part of her.

“Yep. No need to worry, Master. I’m okay. Really.”

“Snips,” he sighed and pulled out a datapad. On it was a very familiar video.

“You… know about it?” She couldn’t think of anything else to say. Of course, he knew about it! The evidence was right there!

Thankfully, he sensed her nerves and decided to put her out of her misery. “I just found out about it at the council meeting. Everyone noticed there was something up with the troops and Master Plo finally came forward with the evidence.”

She slumped back in the chair, still unsure of what to say or how to react to this.

He put a comforting hand on her back. “I thought it was pretty funny. And it also makes sense why so many troopers have been asking you how they smelled.”

She groaned and buried her face in her hands.

“Why didn’t you just tell me? I wouldn’t have been made. Force knows I have my own weird quirks.”

“It’s embarrassing!” She cried. “I don’t know what else to say but it’s embarrassing. It’s bad enough Rex found out and now you and the rest of the Jedi council have seen it? I might just die.”

He laughed. “No need to be dramatic. We all have our embarrassing moments. I don’t think it’s embarrassing though.”

“You don’t?”

How could he not? She and the rest of the troopers were running around like idiots. The latest episode had Jesse getting tossed around the room by Rex for trying to teach the younglings swear words. Then there was the whole Z-6 fiasco! Fives and Echo’s argument about his goatee. Stupid. Embarrassing. All of it. None of this was how a Jedi should be acting.

She should be more like Master Unduli or Master Kenobi. Serene. Calm. Dignified. Not… whatever this was.

“No, I don’t.” Anakin continued. “I know a lot of people think there’s a right and wrong way to be a Jedi, and they might be right in some instances, but I don’t think having one kind of Jedi is really helpful. Sometimes you need someone like Luminara, who has great control over her emotions. Sometimes you need someone like Master Yoda, who’s old, wise, and more than willing to let you suffer on your own for a bit to teach you a lesson. Other times you need someone like Obi-wan, who can be charismatic and persuasive. And other times, we need someone like you. Someone who can empathize with anyone. Who can be a good friend and an even better peer. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Your greatest strength is your ability to be so approachable.”

His words made her cheeks heat up slightly. She never thought of it like that.

“Thanks, master,” she said quietly.

He pulled her into a side hug. “Anytime, snips. I’ll always have your back, you know. Obi-wan and Master Plo as well. We’d defend you from the council if you needed it.”

“I know.” It was still nice to hear.

“Though, I don’t think you needed to worry about that. I heard Master Fisto laughing about it with Master Ki-Adi-Mundi about it on my way over.”

“Really? They liked it?”

“Yup. You got a real talent, Snips. Now, is that what you wanted to talk to me about? Or did you have something else going on?"

She shook her head. “No. That was what I wanted you to know.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t realize just how much keeping it a secret had weighed on her. It felt good to finally get it off her chest.

“Good. Want to spar for a few rounds? Or are you happy sitting in the library?” He grinned.

She hopped off her chair. “Let’s spar! I still need to get you back for dropping a building on me.”

“One: It was only the ceiling of one room. And two: It was only after you bit me.”

“You’re just mad because we won.”

“You only lasted nine minutes. You didn’t win. I don’t care what Obi-wan says.”

They continued their bickering to the training room. Now that it was finally out in the open with everyone, Ahsoka was more than happy to continue on. There were so many things she wanted to discuss. She couldn’t wait to get back to filming.

*****

GeneralSkywalker has added CaptainRex, CommanderCody, and GeneralKenobi to the chat.

GeneralSkywalker has shared a link: Slang! With! Jesse!

GeneralSkywalker: I’m guessing this is what the men were up to?

CaptainRex: She finally told you?

GeneralKenobi: No, we had to find out from Master Koon. Who only revealed it because Master Krell was worried the troopers were mounting an insurrection.

CommanderCody: We aren’t.

GeneralKenobi: I know. I would hope that if you were planning an uprising, you’d have the decency to include me in your plans.

GeneralSkywalker: These are pretty amusing. What exactly did Jesse and Ahsoka do to Fives?

CaptainRex has uploaded an image.

Image 1: A photo of Fives’ armor, now covered in glittery stickers in the shape of the symbol of the republic.

GeneralSkywalker: Oh, that’s amazing.

CaptainRex: Wait, it gets better.

CaptainRex has uploaded two images.

Image 2: A photo of Fives’ blaster. Now completely covered in glitter paint.

Image 3: A photo of a horrified Fives as he looks in the mirror and realizes that his hair and goatee are now glittery.

GeneralKenobi: Where in the Galaxy did they get their hands on so much glitter?

GeneralSkywalker: And so many different types as well. I have a feeling Ahsoka’s been planning this for a while.

CaptainRex: I don’t know. What I do know is I refuse to bunk with Fives until his kit is glitter-free.

CommanderCody: That’s never going to happen.

CaptainRex: I know. And I am not complaining.

Chapter Text

Their time at Coruscant had come to an end. It was a nice break for a few weeks from the constant war and battles and fighting. But, Ahsoka had to admit, she was itching to get back out onto the field. To defend the galaxy. To help bring about the end of the war. She wasn’t the only one who was getting antsy. The rest of the 501st seemed to be just as ready to get back out there and fight as she was.

Though, they did have a chance to do some training with Cody and Wolffe’s squads towards the end there. She was proud to say her men won three out of five battles! Wolffe would say that’s because his men were all pansies who heard what she did to Anakin and didn’t want to be on the receiving end of her teeth. She would just like to point out that Wolffe was also known for using his teeth so that was a pathetic excuse.

Still, Ahsoka enjoyed ‘hunting’ his men down and pouncing on them when they least expected it. Wolffe even recorded a few of her hunts to upload onto the ‘Creche to Command’ site Echo had made for her. He even started his own series! A ‘Best of the GAR’ short video series that was supposed to showcase all the cool battle moments.

“Something to tie over your fans until you get the next full-length one uploaded,” He had said to her.

“That’s a great idea! Maybe we can have other battalions submit their coolest moments or best pranks.”

He flashed a grin at her. “I like the sound of that, kid.”

So far, it was populated entirely by Wolfpack. Ahsoka, Fives, and Jesse were planning on changing that very soon.

There was a war on and if they had any hope of ending it, she and the rest of her squad had to get back out into the galaxy.

They were heading back to the frontlines tomorrow. Which meant everyone was in a rush to get all the cargo loaded up onto the transport ships in the next few hours. It was a mess of troopers rushing around. Running back to get last-minute items. Rex and Cody shouting over the chaos and trying to direct people into at least a bit of order. Anakin and Obi-Wan had to attend a stupid Jedi Council Meeting (yes, another one. Anakin often complained that they never ended). Which meant Ahsoka was the only non-trooper currently in the bay, doing her best to help out.

She had gotten stronger in the force and was using it to move some of the heavier pallets around so the troopers didn’t hurt themselves.

“Doing okay there, kid?” Appo asked as she dropped the pallet onto the loading ships.

“Yup! Besides, we’re almost done,” she said, trying to hide the fact that she was panting. Yes, the force did allow her to pick up large, heavy objects that would normally take a dozen men to move, but it did still require some effort on her part. Effort and energy. She was going to need to eat double the rations she normally ate tonight to make up for all this work.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Hawk grumbled, walking past her with his own checklist in hand. “Did we get all the ammo loaded?”

“First thing that went on the ship,” Rex called back.

“Why wasn’t medical supplied the first thing on the ship?” Kix shouted.

“Because you’re anal about the medical supplies and weren’t done taking inventory when we started to load up!” Jesse called.

“Sorry for caring about keeping you alive!”

“Ammo also keeps us alive,” Hardcase shouted.

Ahsoka sighed as they kept shouting at each other. The argument itself was less playful and more stressful than normal. It always was right before they left. If they forgot anything, they’d have to send for it. And, depending on what else was happening in the galaxy, their request might take weeks, if not months to process. One missing crate of ammo or bacta could mean the difference between life and death out there.

She shook off her exhaustion and cursed her wimpy noodle arms. Yes, she finally admitted that she had wimpy noodle arms. If only to herself. She’d never let Hardcase get the satisfaction of knowing he was right. She had started weight training with Dogma to try and build up more muscle. Soon, she was going to be able to bench press Hadrcase without the force!

She steadied herself and picked up another heavy pallet. Each one seemed heavier than the last. Each pallet took her longer to get off the ground and she dropped them with more and more force each time.

This one barely made it onto the transport ship before her arms gave out.

Echo saw this and came over to her. She went to argue that she was fine but he was having none of it. Hand on her back, he guided her out of the bay and to the quiet hallway.

“I’m fine, Echo,” she said.

“You can still take breaks if you need to. You’re right, we’re almost done anyways.” He handed her some water.

She tried to do her ‘tooka eyes’ on him. The eyes that could make most troopers melt and give in to her demands.

He looked unimpressed. “Stay, or I’ll tell Kix you’re hiding an injury.”

She glared at him. “You wouldn’t.” How dare he be immune to her greatest weapon!

“You know I would. I’ve sold out Fives before. You’re not any different. Now stay here for at least five minutes. If I see you in the bay before five minutes is up, I will get Kix.”

“And I’ll tell him that you’re the one hiding an injury!” She called out after him.

Echo just laughed at the threat.

As nice as it felt to sit down and take a break, she hated wasting time like this. It was bad enough that Anakin and Master Kenobi were gone. Sitting back here, away from all the men made her feel… bad. Like she was above them. She didn’t think any of them thought that way. After all, it had been Echo who had pulled her aside from the first place. But what of the other troopers walking around? What if they saw her sitting off to the side and thought that she thought she was too good for them?

She had been surprised when she first showed up in Coruscant that she was getting a more positive reception from the troopers outside of the 501st, no doubt due to her holonet series, but what if they thought all of it was fake? What if when they looked at her, all they saw was another nat-born using troopers for her own gain; not caring about their well-being?

“Are you alright?” a trooper asked.

She looked up, expecting it to be one of the 501st, possibly someone who saw Echo pull her to the side and was using the excuse of checking up on her to get out of work. She’d be more than happy to oblige them. They worked hard enough as is.

When she looked up, however, that wasn’t who she saw. Two troopers, painted in the red of the Coruscant guard stood in front of her. She didn’t recognize either of them. Come to think of it, she wasn’t sure she had ever formally met anyone from the Coruscant guard. She knew of Fox because of how much the rest of the commanders talked about him. But other than that the guards were basically background characters. Always wandering around but never really interacting with her or the others. Which is why it was so weird they were talking to her now.

“Um, yeah. No need to worry about me. Just doing a lot of heavy lifting,” she said, scrambling to her feet. She never knew how to act around unfamiliar troopers. Did they want her to follow all the protocols of salutes and ‘yes, sirs’ and treat them like colleagues? Or did they want something a bit more informal?

“Are you sure? You look a little pale,” one of the guards stepped closer to her, examining her.

Okay, this was even weirder. Usually, unless they needed something, Coruscant guards tended to ignore her. Not that she was complaining! She had seen many troopers shuddering at the thought of getting their attention.

“I’m fine, guys. Just taking a little break. Don’t worry, Echo is keeping an eye on me.”

Why did she have to explain herself in the first place? What did it matter to these guys if she was resting or pushing herself? They weren’t her men? Did Echo put them up to this? Did he have that kind of pull with the guard?

“Okay. Don’t push yourself too hard, though.” The other said, not sounding the least bit convinced at her explanation.

“I won’t,” she assured them, still very confused as to why they cared in the first place.

“Good.” The trooper dug around his pocket and pulled out an energy bar. Like a ration bar, but slightly less chalky. And sometimes they had actual flavor! The ‘flavor’ in question wasn’t always good, but at least it tasted like something.

He pressed it into her hands. “Here. Eat this.”

“Um… thank you?”

“Don’t work yourself too hard, kid,” the other said. He patted her on the shoulder before they both left to continue their rounds.

‘Kid’. Not ‘sir’. ‘Kid’. That alone was enough to make her suspicious. Even with the 212th, Wolfpack, and 501st, if she wasn’t super familiar with a trooper, they still called her ‘sir’. She always told them to call her by her name, but she had never had that conversation with the guard before. What was going on here?

“That was weird,” she said. Should she be worried the bar was poisoned or something? Maybe she shouldn’t eat it. Maybe these weren’t troopers at all. Maybe they were those commando droids pretending to be troopers to kill her!

Why commando droids would try to assassinate her specifically was unknown, but it wasn’t outside the realm of possibilities.

Her stomach growled.

“Eh, who’d want to kill me,” she said, ripping the packaging off with her teeth and digging in. “Oh, this is one of the good ones!”

Everyone agreed that nut butter and juja fruit bars were the best. But they were also the hardest to get. Some of the most intense barterings she had ever seen happened because one trooper got a nut butter and juja fruit bar in his pack and the others were willing to sell a kidney to get it. And here she was, chowing down on one like they grew on trees. Cramming the rest of the bar in her mouth, she did feel better.

“If it was poisoned, at least they poisoned one of the good ones.” She looked up at the clock and saw that her five minutes were up.

Echo would be so proud.

“Alright, back to work.” She rolled her head a few times and trotted back into the bay to aid in packing up the last few pallets. How the guard had treated her lingered in the back of her head. She wanted to know what had prompted that. She should have gotten their names. Then she could have found them and asked them directly. That wouldn’t work now, but there was someone else who might be able to help.

*****

“And so then I rip the clanker’s head straight from his body. You should have seen the squad’s faces! I don’t think I’ve ever commanded so much respect before!” Wolffe laughed.

Rex rolled his eyes and kept trying to work on some final documents before they shipped out tomorrow morning. It was hard because Wolffe was sitting on his desk and wouldn’t shut up about whatever the hell he had been up to since he last saw him.

“You know I can just watch the videos you uploaded. You don’t have to tell me about it directly.” He tried.

“No, you need to be inspired by this in person. Now then, what other amazing things did I do on my last campaign?”

“Why don’t you go bother Cody with this?” Rex growled.

“He’s got a meeting with the general.”

“Fox?”

Wolffe laughed. “Are you kidding? I set foot in that office and he will shoot me. You know how overworked he is.”

“Baccara?”

“Off planet.”

“Bly?”

“Off planet.”

“Ponds.”

“In a meeting with General Windu.”

“Wilco?”

“I don’t like his face.”

“You have the same face.”

“Still don’t like it.”

“Appo?”

“Not as fun to annoy as you.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be the stoic one?” Rex growled.

“Ah, only when I’m commanding my troops, Rex’ika.” He reached forward and pinched Rex’s cheeks.

“I will bite you,” he said, batting away the hand.

“Can’t be any worse than Sok’ika. I heard she nearly ripped out Skywalker’s throat,” Wolffe laughed again. “I taught her well.”

“You taught her the fastest way to get Hep A. That’s what you taught her. You know she bit a pirate a few weeks ago? I thought Kix was about to have a heart attack. I think he screened for every disease in the galaxy.”

“Pirates are disgusting people. Loads of STDs.”

“Didn’t you sleep with a pirate once?”

“Yep. Tener is still screening to this day.”

“Disgusting and I hate that I know about all your exploits. Please leave.”

“Not going to happen. Ah, but I’m glad the council knows about her series. I was worried they’d shut it down.”

“From what I hear, most of the members absolutely love it,” Rex said, going back to his paperwork. At least they were done talking about STDs and whatever Wolffe got up to when he had more than a few minutes of free time.

“And here you were worried about it. You know she’s getting views on almost every Republic system out there? And a few neutral ones as well.”

“We’ll have to keep an eye on that,” Rex said.

“Relax. Seriously. She’s got hundreds of thousands of troopers who all have her back. We’re not going to let anything happen.”

“You can’t stop everything.”

“But I can try.”

Before Rex could answer, the door slid open and Ahsoka stepped in.

“Oh, hey, Wolffe!” Ahsoka said, waving to him. “Hey, Rex. Are you busy?”

“Unbelievably,” Rex grumbled, but he put his paperwork off to the side anyways. Unlike Wolffe, Ahsoka tended to not overstay her welcome. He was willing to talk to her for a few minutes. Besides, she was always a bit jittery before shipping out once more. Always afraid that this would be the mission where everyone she cared about died.

“I can come back, then,” she said, inching towards the door.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Wolffe said, grabbing her wrist and tugging her back inside. “Come, help me bother Captain Rex. Tell your favorite ori’vod what’s going on in your life. Any Jedi giving you a hard time because of the series? We can… talk to them if you’d like.”

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes. “That sounds like a threat.”

Wolffe shrugged. “Just saying. There are a couple of them I wouldn’t mind going toe-to-toe with.”

“Wolffe,” Rex warned.

“Alright. Alright. I won’t stick a Jedi’s head through a wall. Happy?”

“Barely.” He turned to Ahsoka. “What’s up? All ready to leave tomorrow?”

Ahsoka nodded. “Yeah. But, I wanted to ask you something about the troopers. Mainly the ones that aren’t in the 501st?”

“Okay?” He said cautiously. Sometimes, it was hard to figure out where conversations like this were going to lead and he was nervous that she was specifically asking him about troopers outside of their battalions.

He trusted his brothers to have his back. He trusted that if he were plopped down in a random battalion where he knew no one, they’d do everything in their power to keep him safe. Watch his back, and help him finish the mission alive. But, the GAR was made up of hundreds of thousands of men, each with distinct personalities. And statistically speaking, at least some of those men were less than stellar people, as he had had first-hand experience with. He only hoped what he was worried about wasn’t actually what Ahsoka was talking about. He wouldn’t be able to stop Wolffe if that was the case. He probably wouldn’t even try.

“Yeah, have you noticed them acting any different?” Ahsoka asked.

“Different? Different how?” Wolffe asked.

She shrugged. “It’s not bad it’s just… it’s probably nothing.”

“No, you can tell us,” Rex said. He needed to know sooner rather than later if he needed to call Cody to help hide some bodies.

“Well, today when we were packing up, Echo had me take a break just outside the bay.”

He nodded, remembering that.

“And while I was resting, two Coruscant guards came up to me and seemed worried. They asked me if I was alright and gave me an energy bar.”

“Okay.” That didn’t sound too nefarious. “And this is different?”

She nodded. “It’s not that any trooper has ever been mean to me or anything. But they’re nice in a way that everyone is nice to people who haven’t given them a reason to be mean to them yet. You know?”

“Yeah, I understand. And you’re saying this is different?”

“Yep. And normally, the guards just completely ignore me if they don’t need me for something. But, it’s not just them. One of Ponds’ men offered to walk me back to the temple after we were done packing everything up. And when I was coming to find you, one of Gree’s men asked if I needed help with anything.”

“Maybe they’re just fans of your series,” Rex suggested. He didn’t know how he felt about that.

“I thought so too, but it still feels different. Like, I can feel it with the Force. It doesn’t feel like they’re just fans. They certainly didn’t act this way when we first got to Coruscant.”

“Oh! I think I know what happened,” Wolffe said, snapping his fingers.

“Really?” Rex asked, dubious.

“Yeah. Jesse called you vod’ika during the last Creche to Command, spoke to you in Mando’a, and you responded in real-time.”

“So, he does that all the time,” Ahsoka shrugged.

Pieces fell into place and Rex realized where Wolffe was going with this. “Oh yeah, you’re right.”

“Will one of you please just tell me what’s going on?” Ahsoka said, throwing her hands up in the air. “What does this have to do with the Coruscant Guard feeding me or troopers I don’t know asking if I need any help.”

“Because he basically marked you as a trooper. Congratulations, kid. You’re one of us now,” Rex said.

Instead of looking like that cleared anything up, Ahsoka only looked more confused. “I’m not a clone.”

“No, you’re not. You’re a trooper though,” Wolffe said. “Aliit ori’shya tal’din”

Rex had a feeling they could go around in circles all day and decided to give the kid a break and explain it outright.

“Remember what Jesse said? Fives and Echo too? We’re a people without a culture or home. We don’t even own our own armor. That’s all property of the GAR. So, what happens when you have a group of people that can’t own property and have no connection to any one place? Non-tangible traditions become a cornerstone of the culture. For us, it’s the language. A sort of ‘trooper mando’a’, if you will.”

“Clone-ialisms?” Wolffe smirked.

“I should punish Jesse for that alone,” Rex groaned. Now that he had put it out in the world, all of the troopers of the GAR were arguing whether it was brilliant or stupid. They were currently split 50/50.

“I still don’t get why this makes other troopers be nicer to me,” Ahsoka grumbled.

“Because, like you guys talked about in the last update, troopers don’t speak Mando’a to anyone else but other troopers. The fact that you understood him and he spoke directly to you basically signals to all the troopers that you are a brother. You may not look like us, but you are one of us.” Rex explained.

“And that means that you’re treated just like any other brother. We look out for each other. Especially since not many other people will,” Wolffe finished.

“Oh.” Ahsoka bit her lip and looked down. “That’s…”

“Does it bother you?” Rex asked. He hoped it didn’t. Mostly because he had no idea how he’d fix it if it did.

“No, no!” She was quick to exclaim. “It doesn’t. Really!”

“I can tell when you’re lying, you know,” Rex sighed.

“Cannot!”

“Can too. Come on. Out with it. What bothers you about it?”

Ahsoka hesitated again. Normally he’d start speaking to her in Mando’a and appealing to her more emotional side. That was a surefire way to get her to open up. However, given the conversation they were having, he didn’t think that would be the best move.

“Jedi aren’t supposed to have attachments,” she practically whispered.

Wolffe snorted.

Rex glared at him.

“What? She’s not the one that’s attached. We are.”

“No, but that’s the thing. I am attached. Maybe not to every trooper out there, but to at least a few of you. I don’t know what I’d do if Rex or you died.”

“We’re all going to die someday, vod’ika,” Wolffe said.

Ahsoka punched his arm. “You know what I mean! Not from old age or something. But a violent death. And, the fact that you’re soldiers, that’s practically a guarantee! It’s… it’s dangerous.”

“You’re not going to fall to the dark side,” Rex quickly interjected.

“But what if I do?” Ahsoka practically wailed. “They have to have that stupid rule for a reason. What if Rex dies and then I turn evil and join the separatists and start killing children, and—”

“Alright, alright, breathe,” Wolffe said, putting his hands on her shoulders. “And you turning evil because one of us died is a load of osik.”

“But—”

“But nothing. If attachments made you evil, then most people in the galaxy would be evil. I mean, Rex, how many brothers have you lost?”

“Countless,” he said. Despite knowing the conversation was to help Ahsoka, he couldn’t help but feel haunted by the deaths on his hands.

“I’ve lost countless. Hell, you’ve probably lost countless as well. And it’s not like this attachment thing is new. It didn’t just pop up yesterday because Jesse decided to be a di’kut and antagonize Rex and then ask you for help.”

Ahsoka did not look convinced.

“Dooku isn’t exactly swimming in attachments,” Wolffe continued. “And he’s super evil.”

“It’s different!” Ahsoka said.

“It’s not different.”

Once more, Rex could see a conversation that just lead in circles and decided to cut to the chase.

“Ahsoka, I may not be a Jedi, but I know a good person when I see one. And you are a good person. I may die on the battlefield tomorrow. Or I could get hit by a speeder going to pick up whoever got thrown in Fox’s drunk tank tonight. Either way, I know you won’t fall to the dark side because of my death.”

“But what if I do? What if this is just a slippery slope that starts out all innocent and ends with me going out for milkshakes with Ventris?”

He shook his head. “Ventress does not seem like the kind of person who’d go out for milkshakes. Even with an ally. Like I said, I don’t know much about this ‘light side, dark side’ stuff, but what I do know is whether you’re a good person or not is dependent on your choices. You choose the light. And, personally, I feel like loving and protecting a group of people is a choice that helps you turn towards the light, not away from it.”

He could tell Ahsoka was going to have to mull this over for a long time. He wished she had someone to talk to about this besides them. Someone who had been there before. But, the only Jedi he knew with an attachment was currently hiding said attachment as if he was any good at it. The rest of the Jedi, all spouted the same shit. No attachments. No love. No long-term relationships. Don’t even know your parents’ names.

It wasn’t surprising that Ahsoka was so readily accepted by the troopers, nor did she shy away from their friendships. In many ways, she was just like them. Only a lightsaber to her name. No past. No future. No ancestors. No culture.

He hoped, perhaps selfishly, that this conversation kept her with them. Kept her engaging with them and around them. Force knows he’d probably fall to the dark side if he was expected to never grow attached to anything ever. No one deserved a life of loneliness and a constant fear that one wrong move would spell doom for their eternal soul.

But, if she did decide to distance herself, he’d understand. And he’d help her keep her distance.

“Alright, kid. I think that’s enough existential dread for today.” Wolffe said, finally hopping off Rex’s desk. He put a hand on Ahsoka’s back and led her out the door. “I’ll walk you back to the Temple. Rex, I’d stay a bit longer. You know Fox is going to call in a few minutes saying Hardcase hit the ale a bit too hard. Oh, and you can think about making it official.”

Rex rolled his eyes. He did not think Fox would be very happy with him saying the traditional adoption vow to Ahsoka. Besides, she was having enough trouble with this. No need to give her anything else to stress about. Therefore, he decided to ignore his last little comments and hope Ahsoka didn’t look too deeply into them.

“I should just let them rot in there. I told them not to get arrested tonight.”

“Do they ever listen?”

“No. They don’t.”

Ahsoka waved to him as they left the room. He sighed deeply and sank back in his chair. Why was all of this so complicated?

*****

Ahsoka hardly slept that night. Rex’s conversation and his words worked themselves over and over and over again in her mind. Honestly, knowing the troopers saw her as one of their own was not a surprise to her. Not in the slightest. She had felt it in the force for a very long time. Felt it in the way they treated her, and looked at her. It was different than how they felt about Anakin or Master Kenobi. Yes, they protected and looked out for them as well, but not in the same way.

Besides, hadn’t she literally been thinking of them, not as troopers, not even as brothers, but as vod? Calling them that in her head in a way that made her stomach twist itself into knots that were sometimes not exactly unpleasant?

She sighed once more and rolled over onto her right side.

Attachments were forbidden by the Jedi code. She was supposed to be completely free from all that nonsense. She didn’t even know the names of her parents or where about Shili she came from. She didn’t know if they were alive or dead. If they missed her. She didn’t even know if her birth name was Ahsoka Tano or if that had been a name given to her at the temple. Any memories she had of her past were blurry and sometimes felt like her imagination. A desperate attempt to connect to a time before she was a Jedi.

She sighed and rolled over to her left side.

All this attachment nonsense seemed like an impossible bar to reach. Even before the clone wars, padawans were expected to live with their masters for years. Spending almost every waking hour by their side. How were people not supposed to get attached? Especially when for many padawans, their masters were the closest thing to their parents that they had.

And what about friendships? Did her friendship with Barris count as an attachment? What about Anakin’s friendship with Master Kenobi? Did those count as attachments? At what point did a Jedi become so worried about becoming attached to another living being that they completely shut themselves off from the world? Not even allowing passing acquaintances for fear that it could turn into something more.

“Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering,” she whispered to herself as she turned onto her right side.

She should distance herself from the troopers. It was the only way to be a good and proper Jedi. Besides, what if there were two troopers hanging off a cliff? One was Tup and another was some unnamed trooper she didn’t know. She knew she’d instinctively save Tup but wasn’t that wrong of her? Shouldn’t she at least consider saving both of them in equal measure?

She turned onto her left side, gripping the sides of her head and groaning. She was glad she wasn’t sharing a room with anyone.

She should distance herself from the troopers. She should keep them at arm’s length and treat them all equally, but her heart hurt when she thought of doing that. Those men were the only things making this war at least somewhat bearable. What was she supposed to do without them to distract her? Meditate? Practice her lightsaber forms again? Stare at the ceiling?

“I don’t want to turn to the dark side, though,” she said, curling in on herself.

She didn’t want to hurt people. She wanted to help people. She wanted to make the world a better place. Besides, her being in the troopers’ lives seemed to make it marginally better as well. In the 501st they had someone on their side they knew would see them as human (something many Admirals lacked). They had someone to train with. To laugh with in between missions. To comfort after a hard loss.

And then there were the troopers outside the 501st. She never meant ‘Creche to Command’ to become so popular, but Wolffe showed her the pictures of his shinies getting their armor painted by some children they saved. She heard Gree and Ponds laughing over the latest episode with Jesse. She saw how much happier the troops were when they were seen. That had to count for something, right? That couldn’t be a bad thing. Right?

”You choose the light.” That was what Rex had said to her yesterday. You choose the light. You turn towards it. Even when bad things happen, and they will happen no matter what you do, you don’t choose darkness.

“I hope I can turn towards the light,” she said. She wasn’t sure, though. And she hoped she would never need to test herself.

*****

Bly couldn’t stop pacing as the ship came out of hyperspace and a bright green planet appeared in front of them.

“Pacing will not change the outcome,” Aayla said. She was sitting on a seat with a serene expression on her face. Bly wouldn’t put it past her to be meditating or some shit like that.

“This feels like a trap, though. Right? You feel it too?”

Aayla peeled back an eyelid and glanced at him, an amused smile on her face. “None of the other dignitaries we have sent have come back with so much as a scratch. It is not a trip. Please, sit. Relax.”

Bly did as he was told while the pilots requested permission to land. They broke through the atmosphere and he was immediately back on his feet. Pacing.

He and Aayla had been sent to the neutral system Jonda to try and negotiate them joining the republic. The system was strategically located and if they managed to gain their support, that would be a huge boost for the Republic. Their foothold here might just speed their victory along.

The only problem? Jonda was probably even more isolationist than Mandalore. They did not take well to any attempts to sway them towards either side.

“It will be fine, commander,” Aayla said.

“I heard they chased the separatists off the planet with bows and arrows!” he said.

“Then do not get chased off by bows and arrows.”

He glared at her. “Come on. We’ve been trying for months now to get them to join. We haven’t gotten anywhere. This feels like we’ve been set up to fail. Like it’s busy work. Probably to pass another one of those emergency acts.”

“I didn’t know you were so interested in politics,” she smiled at him.

“Eh, not me. Fox. He tries to keep up with it and then when you try to talk to him about anything, he just sits there and complains. But my point still stands, we were sent here to fail.”

“And why would the chancellor want us to fail?” she asked, gently probing him.

He sighed and weighed his options. He did trust Aayla with his life, that much was certain. But, like all troopers, there was a slight divide between safety on the battlefield and safety with their thoughts and opinions. He didn’t know what was okay to say and what wasn’t. What might cause her to think he wasn’t loyal and send him to get decommissioned?

“You can talk to me. You are worried about something,” she urged gently.

He didn’t know if she was using the Force on him or what, but he decided to give in. “Sometimes it feels like there is another player in this war. One that the separatists and the republic don’t know about. I mean, think about it, we’ve been more or less at a stalemate since this war began. It’s almost as if every move we do is perfectly countered by the separatists to keep us in gridlock until whatever else is going on happens.”

“You think there is a spy in the senate or army?”

“Yes! I mean, no! I mean, I don’t know.” He finally settled on.

That sort of thinking was often whispered about amongst the other CCs. Some shadow leader fighting a third war no one knew about. It was usually brushed off as superstition. As mistaking Luck and Fate for some intelligent being. But lately, Bly wasn’t so sure. No matter how many battles they won, no matter how many victories they secured, they never seemed to be any closer to winning the war. And now, with their suicide mission to get Jonda to join the Republic, he was even more sure that something else was going on behind the scenes.

“I mean, if they really wanted Jonda to join, why not send Senator Amidala? She’s great at this,” he huffed and sank down in his seat.

“She also has her own work to complete.” She put a hand on his shoulder. “Remember, she is a senator in charge of not only looking after her people but also dealing with the mess that is politics. She is not here today, but that doesn’t mean she is sitting on Naboo doing nothing.”

“You’re right. You’re right. I just… I don’t want to fail this mission.”

“We cannot control the outcome. We can only control our choices and reactions. Besides, the fact that the leader is still willing to meet with us is a good sign.”

“Maybe she’s just bored,” Bly muttered.

“Perhaps. Now then, let us go meet our host.” She stood and made her way to the gangplank. Bly sighed once more, grabbed his helmet, and followed her.

The leader of Jonda was an old, Torgruta woman. Much older than General Ti. Bly wasn’t quite sure how torgruta aged, but she looked to be about the same age as Chancellor Palpatine. Maybe a few years younger.

“Mistress Ja’ani, thank you for agreeing to meet with us,” Aayla said, bowing to her.

Bly followed suit.

Mistress Ja’ani looked at Bly, eyes narrowed. “I thought I requested you not bring any soldiers here. And yet, I count three.”

“Two are pilots. And this is Commander Bly, my second in command. He is here as another representative of the Republic.”

“Bah!” Mistress Ja’ani waved a hand at them and then turned to walk away.

Aayla must have taken that as an invitation to follow and did so.

Bly trailed after her, glancing up at the various men and women lining either side of the walkway. Some had blasters. Some had bows and arrows. Some had swords. All were watching him. As if he were a killing machine that would snap and shoot them all at the drop of a hat. He hated that he had left his blaster on the ship, but if this was their reception, it was probably a good thing.

“That clone is nothing more than a killing machine. Born and raised to be a warrior. It knows nothing else. Basically, a droid that can bleed,” Mistress Ja’ani said.

“Hey now!” Bly felt a surge of anger rise up in his chest. He didn’t deal with nat-borns very regularly so he wasn’t used to being treated like a piece of property. At least, not since he left Kamino and got his assignment. The Jedi were good about treating them like people and not like clankers.

Aayla sensed his rage and put a hand on his chest to stop him from doing something stupid.

“Please, he is a living being just like you or me. Do not speak of him that way.”

And also maybe talk to me instead of pretending like I’m not here? Bly glared at her.

Mistress Ja’ani turned and studied him for a bit. “Then take off your helmet. You do not look alive to me.”

Bly hesitated and looked at Aayla. She nodded.

He pulled off his helmet and looked her in the eye, hoping she could sense his displeasure at being compared to some clanker.

She huffed and continued walking. “I am still not convinced. Come. I want you off my planet by sundown.”

He and Aayla shared a look before following her.

They went into a small hut where several other people were, including several children.

“Nuri, please, get our guests somewhere to sit,” Mistress Ja’ani said.

Another torgruta girl, maybe only a few years younger than Tano, nodded and jumped up from where he was sitting to grab some cushions and lay them out.

“My granddaughter,” Mistress Ja’ani said.

“Of course,” Aayla said, sitting on the cushions.

Bly shot Nuri and the other children a smile. They giggled at him but went back to sitting in the corner. Those kids weren’t really going to stay here, were they?

Turns out, they were! They were going to sit here and stay and listen to the adults talk non-stop about peace and GAR and Jonda and everything in between.

Each point Aayla brought up was quickly countered by Ja’ani. Probably because she had heard all these points before. They weren’t telling them anything new.

Which meant that the next two hours were probably the most boring hours Bly had ever had to live through. And he once listed to Cody drunkenly ramble about every. Single. Type of tea General Kenobi had onboard the Negotiator. Going into extreme detail about what they tasted like, how hot the water needed to be, how long to steep them, and other facts about tea that Bly didn’t even know needed to exist!

He kept glancing over at the children, wondering if they were going to leave or at least start playing a game or something!

Nope. They just sat there, dead-eyed and bored. So bored they started watching a bug crawl across the ground. The bug wasn’t particularly colorful or doing anything particularly interesting. It was just a bug. A boring bug that was more interesting than what was happening with the adults.

An idea popped into his head. He glanced over at Ja’ani, who had yet to address him. She probably wouldn’t notice if he slipped off to the side and put those kids out of their misery.

Convinced Ja’ani was thoroughly distracted with some mundane argument about economic prosperity, he pulled out a datapad and slipped over to the kids. They were startled at his sudden appearance but seemed unafraid.

“Hey, you kids bored?” he asked, grinning at them.

They nodded.

“I got something that’ll make this thing go a lot faster.” He started poking around the holonet, trying to find what he was looking for. “I’m guessing you’ve been to a lot of these talks?”

Once more the kids nodded.

“Sorry about that. If this fails, I’ll see if I can stop our constant negotiations. No need to bore you guys to death. Eh?”

They giggled at this.

“Ah, here it is. Keep it quiet, okay?” He handed them the datapad and returned back to Aayla and Ja’ani.

He let himself go back into a bored, trance-like state as they continued to argue, wishing the bug would make its way over to him so he could watch it.

“What are they watching?” Ja’ani’s sharp voice yanked him out of his trance.

“Bly?” Aayla looked at him, slightly worried.

“Relax, general. I just gave them an episode of ‘Creche to Command’ to watch. They looked bored,” he said, shrugging. Hopefully, he did not cause a diplomatic incident. Fox would kill him.

“Creche to Command?” Ja’ani asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Oba, look. She’s torgruta like me,” Nuri said, quickly coming over with the datapad in her hand.

“It’s a silly series one of our padawans does with her troops,” Aayla rushed to explain before Jonda decided to join the Separatists over this incident.

Ja’ani once more looked at them with suspicion painted across her face. “Show me,” she demanded.

Nuri handed the pad over to her. Bly hadn’t actually seen this episode yet so he had no idea why Denal was holding Tano above his head and, oh, there was Kix. Looking pissed off as usual. Yep, that would do it.

Ja’ani started the video over from the beginning and the children and the rest of the people in the tent crowded around to watch.

*****

Episode 4: Why you should ALWAYS listen to your Medic

“Alright, is it in focus?” Ahsoka asked as the camera floated a few feet away from her. “Hi, guys! I’m going to be trying something different today. I’ve got R2 to be my cameraman for the day! That way you’re not just looking at a static shot of me sitting behind a table. Because…”

She looked conspiratorially from side to side before leaning in close, “We’re going on a field trip to the med bay to get a tour!”

Hoping back, she beamed and clapped her hands together. “Come on. Follow me,” she waved at the camera.

R2 let out a series of beeps and boops and followed her down the hall.

“Now, hopefully, you won’t be spending much time here and neither will your troops. We want zero troopers to be in the med bay after a battle. But, that is unrealistic. We are at war and people get hurt. Even if we aren’t in a battle, this many people on a ship? Injuries are bound to happen. Just ask Hardcase and Fives after they swapped Jesse’s practice detonators for ones filled with glitter. I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen Echo so mad before.” She laughed. “That was great. Anyways, we don’t want to go to the med bay, but occasionally we’ll have to, which is why I wanted to give you a tour and make it a little less scary. Medics are their own classification of trooper. They’ve been specially trained for this. They also, and will constantly remind you, that they do have the ability to override any order given if it negatively impacts their help. Kix is our head medic, but we won’t be talking to him today.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “I think he’s trying to track down Anakin and Rex. But Coric is here so he can give us the rundown on protocol, do’s and don’ts, and other things pertaining to the med bay!”

She smiled brightly and slipped through the door. As soon as she stepped through, a loud voice rang out through the room.

“If you di’kut’e don’t get your shupur’yc shebs’e back in these beds I am going to tranq you so much you’ll be drooling on yourselves for the next three months!”

Ahsoka froze, the smile slipping from her face, going pale at the sound of that voice. “Oh, no. I thought he was distracted with Anakin,” she whispered. “Maybe we can come back later.”

“Tano, is that you?” Kix shouted through the room.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go,” she hissed, ushering R2 out of the room.

“Don’t you run away from me! I know you were hit with shrapnel and have been avoiding me!”

“Haar’chak! Run!” She shouted, taking off down the hallway. R2 let out another string of beeps and zoomed after her. Troopers leaped out of her way as she twisted and turned down the hallways, seeming to know where she was going.

Sadly, it appeared Kix also knew where she was going as R2 swiveled his head around to show a very angry looking medic not far behind.

“K’olar! Don’t you think the fact I’m catching up to you is proof you need to go to the med bay?”

“No!” Ahsoka shouted back. She was slowing down, though. That much was clear to anyone watching. Soon, Kix would catch up to her.

Would she escape? Did the audience want her to escape? If it was true that she was injured, surely she needed to get back to the med bay to get checked out?

Thankfully, they didn’t have to worry about this for long as a trooper turned the corner. He took one look at the running Ahsoka and one look at Kix, sighed, set down his cup of caf, and in one smooth motion, caught the girl around the waist and hoisted her into the air.

“Denal! Denal put me down! That’s an order,” Ahsoka shouted. “I’ll bite you.”

Denal held tight and lifted her so she was over his head. “Sadly for you, I fear our baar’ur a lot more than I fear your teeth. He’s crazy. Why would you ever want to piss him off?”

Kix caught up to them, panting slightly. “Thank you, Denal. Finally, someone who respects my authority.” He glared at Ahsoka, still hoisted over Denal’s head. She wasn’t fighting now, but she did have her arms crossed and was pointedly not looking at Kix.

Kix pulled out his specialized tranquilizer blaster. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

She sighed dramatically. “Fine. I’ll go with you. You’re evil. You know that?”

Kix nodded at Denal who finally set her on the floor. He put an arm around her shoulders, in case she tried to bolt again and lead her back to the med bay. “It’s not evil to want the men to be in the best health.”

He noticed R2 following with the camera. “This for Creche to Command?”

“Yes,” she grumbled.

“You know being all dramatic like this is just going to make people try and avoid the med bay more. Right?”

“I’m fine, really. I barely got hit with the shrapnel.”

“That’s not what Fives said.”

“Fives ratted me out? That traitor.”

Kix chuckled and sat her on a bed. “Yeah, now if only we can find Skywalker and Rex. I would say I have the most difficult patients in all the GAR, but medics talk. You all are difficult.”

“Sorry, kid. Looks like we’re med bay buddies for the time being,” Hardcase said, looking over from his bed.

Ahsoka used the force to fling a bunch of cotton balls at Fives’ head while Kix started scanning her.

“Hey, what was that for?” Fives cried.

“For telling Kix about the shrapnel!”

“He said he would take the handcuffs off me in an hour if I told him. You wouldn’t want your favorite vod to be handcuffed to a bed all night.” He rattled around the cuffs to prove a point.

“You’re not her favorite vod. I am. She said so,” Hardcase said.

“You both are handcuffed to the bed?” Ahsoka asked.

“Yes, they are,” Kix said as he snapped a cuff on her wrist.

“Hey!”

“You know the rules. Try and escape once, you get the cuffs. Twice, you get tranqed.”

“I didn’t try and escape, though!”

“Then what was your mad dash down the hallway?”

“I wasn’t a patient in the med bay at that point so it doesn’t count!”

“If you set foot in the med bay and are injured, you are automatically a patient. I don’t make the rules.”

“You literally do,” Fives grumbled.

“Whatever. Do you have advice for the video?” Ahsoka asked while Kix started slapping bacta on her.

“Other than wear armor and try not to stand near buildings that are blowing up?”

“Sorry about that, vod’ika,” Hardcase called. “Didn’t know you and Fives were on the other side.”

“It’s fine. And yes,” She turned to Kix.

“Well, this one’s important. If you are ever near a trooper that’s injured, comm the medic. Tell them your location. And then give as much detail as possible about the injury. Do it in that exact order. A lot of people start panicking and talking about the injury instead of the location. But the location is the most important part. We can listen to you as we’re on our way. Or we can assess the situation once we get there. But, that’s only if we know where you’re at,” he explained.

Corric walked by to check on Fives. “Yeah. It’s helpful if you stay with the trooper until a medic arrives, but sometimes you don’t have a choice. It’s easier to perform first aid when things aren’t shooting at you so if you have to go and finish the mission or destroy a few clankers, we’ll understand.”

Kix nodded. “Right you are.”

“Actually, that is good advice,” Ahsoka said. “It helps that there are only three steps. Makes it easier to remember.”

“Exactly,” Coric said. “Oh, I have one.”

“Go right ahead,” Ahsoka replied.

“This episode is much more boring than ours was,” Hardcase said.

“Speak for yourself. My episode was amazing. Yours was, eh.” Fives made a so-so gesture with his hand.

“I’d punch you but I’m chained to the bed,” Hardcase growled.

“Alright,” Coric continued, ignoring Fives and Hardcase’s bickering. “This one is very important. Medics are troopers. And all troopers are male humans. This means that if you’re not a male or a human, or if you’re a trooper with a non-human or male CO, do some research to make sure your equipment and medical supplies can still work and if there’s anything, in particular, you need to be on the lookout for.”

“Oh, that’s a good one,” Kix said. “I know Locke’s got a special protocol for Commander Ofree and General Unduli since they can’t remove their head coverings around people that aren’t family or doctors.”

“And this one here’s got more sensitive hearing we got to watch out for,” Coric said, tapping on the side of Ahsoka’s head. She batted his hand away. “And a different blood structure means different bacta and transfusions.”

“Really?” She said. “I didn’t realize you guys had different equipment for me.”

“Yup,” Kix said, lifting up a bag. “Your field kit.” He lifted up another. “Everyone else’s. Yours has sharp teeth painted around the main opening. Coric thought it was funny. Since you bite so many people.”

She rolled her eyes. “Thanks for thinking of me.”

“Course. It’s our job to keep you nice and alive so you can keep slicing through all those clankers. Now,” he spun his chair around to face her. “Tell you what. You’re not actually as injured as I previously thought.”

“Yes! So, I can go?” she asked.

He grinned at her. “Not quite, ad’ika,. Technically, I could still hold you overnight for observation.”

“No, Kix. Come on! I hate it in here. It smells awful!”

His grin widened.

“Oh, he’s up to something,” Fives whispered. “I know that look.”

“Of course,” Kix said. “Tell you what. I won’t keep you overnight for observation. I’ll keep you here for three hours.”

“Deal!”

He laughed. “That wasn’t the deal.”

Ahsoka’s brow furrowed. “Then… what is?”

“Tell me where the captain and general are, and then I’ll let you leave in three hours.”

“No!” Hardcase gasped. “No, kid, don’t do it! Don’t sell out your brothers!”

“I don’t know, it is a pretty sweet deal,” Fives said.

“That’s only because you already sold her out! You’re just trying to make yourself feel better. Stay strong, kid. Don’t give in to the medic!”

Ahsoka worried her lip with the teeth.

“Three hours, then you’re free,” Kix said.

Ahsoka tipped her head back and wailed, “I’m sorry, Rex and Anakin!”

“Yes,” Kix let out a cheer. “Come on, out with it. Where are they hiding?”

“Rex is hiding in the sparring room and Anakin is hiding on the Twilight.” She groaned. “I’ve betrayed everyone I love.” She put her head in her hand.

“I’m sure they’ll forgive you,” Fives said, reaching over to pat her shoulder.

“Coric, which one do you want to get?” Kix asked, handing him the tranq gun.

“I’ll go after the general.”

“Excellent. If any of you pick these locks and try to escape, I will know. And I will keep you here until we meet up with the 212th. Understood?”

“Yes sir,” they grumbled.

The two medics left the bay.

“Well, we may not be able to go anywhere,” Fives said, with a grin on his face, “but I can think of a thing or two we can still teach the baby Jedi.” He held up a deck of cards. “Saabaac, anyone?”

Ahsoka and Hardcase looked at each other and grinned. “Fives, you’re a genius.”

“Of course I am. But, that’s all for the med bay for now.”

“Right. See you guys next week!” Ahsoka said, waving to the camera.

*****

Palpatine sat back in his chair, careful to have his expression be hopeful, yet pitying as Jedi Aayla Secura, her commander (whatever his name was), and several other members of the Jedi council shuffled into his chambers to report their failure of convincing the Jondan people to join the Republic.

Sometimes, it was fun to mess with those Jedi and do-good senators like Amidala. He loved watching the hope snuff from their eyes as they were forced to admit defeat over and over again. He couldn’t wait to hear Secura apologize to him over and over again for failing her mission. He couldn’t wait to hear Kenobi and Yoda try and fail to assure her it wasn’t her fault. He couldn’t wait to see the shame in the clone’s eyes as he realized how much of a failure he was. One purpose, he had to serve one purpose and had failed. Oh, it would be delicious.

“My dear,” he said gently, letting that pitying tone slip in just a bit. Sometimes when people felt you were pitying them, it made the bitter taste of defeat go down all the harder. “I take it your trip to Jonda did not end as we had hoped.”

Then, Secura did something that shocked him. She smiled. Not just a sad ’We did fail and I’m so sorry’ smile. But a proper, blinding, almost cocky smile.

“They agreed to join the Republic,” she said.

The clone commander smirked.

“Really?” Senator Amidala gasped. “They did?”

She nodded. “They did.”

Palpatine felt his mind go blank for a few seconds. That… wasn’t supposed to happen. “How?” he stuttered out.”

The clone crossed his arms and glared at him. “You didn’t think we could do it?”

Shit. He composed himself. “Not at all. I’m simply curious as to why they agreed to do it now. We’ve sent many senators and Jedi to try and negotiate a place in the war. And it was my understanding that Jonda was one of the more… isolationist systems. Moreso than Mandalore.”

“Master Skywalker,” Secura said, turning towards the holo image of Skywalker, “you should be proud. I think ‘Creche to Command’ is to thank for our newfound allies.”

“Creche to what?”

“Really?” Skywalker said, amusement leaking into his voice. “And how’s that?”

The clone shrugged. “The chief’s granddaughter looked bored out of her mind so I gave her an episode to watch. Mistress Ja’ani was curious and watched it as well. According to her, one of the reasons she didn’t want to join the Republic was because she worried the troopers were being treated like slaves or droids. Disposable and replaceable. Apparently, seeing that we had the freedom and support from our commanding officers changed her mind.”

“I’m sorry,” Palpatine said, holding up a hand to silence the clone. “What is ‘creche to command’?”

“Oh, it’s an amazing series,” One of his interns (he couldn’t be bothered to remember her name). “Was it the med bay episode?”

The clone grinned at her. “One in the same.”

“Oh, I love that one!”

“I still think my favorite is the one with Echo and Fives,” Skywalker said.

“That is a good one,” Kenobi said. “I am curious about the next one. Saabac? Is that really something we want the younglings to learn about?”

“Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop,” Palpatine said, still feeling more confused than ever. “What is this? What’s going on here?”

Secura rolled her eyes and handed him a data pad. “Padawan Tano and the rest of the 501st have created a holonet series to help new clones and padawans settle into their military positions.”

“Wolffe’s got a side series with the best moments of the GAR,” the trooper added. “It’s pretty popular even outside the GAR. A lot of civilians watch it.”

His eye may have twitched as he scrolled through several videos on a specialized holonet site. This was not part of the plan. Normally, he’d ignore such an obviously mindless and stupid series. However, it had already been used successfully to gain an ally. An ally the Republic was not supposed to have. He didn’t like it when powerful things weren’t under his control.

He could try and sway the girl to the dark side like he was doing with Skywalker. But, in the few times he had met her, she had been a blinding light in the force. Unlike Skywalker, who had darkness in him that could be manipulated, the padawan seemed thoroughly entrenched in the light. Make no mistake, there was darkness in her. She could fall. But to do so would take much more time and focus. Time and focus he didn’t have.

“I worry this is a breach in security. The series should not be allowed to go on any longer,” he said, setting the datapad down.

“Now hold on just a minute,” The clone took a step towards him. Secura put a hand on his chest to stop him.

“With all due respect, chancellor,” Kenobi said in that tone of voice that screamed ‘I don’t respect you at all’, “The series has been going on for several weeks now. We have me, Anakin, Captain Rex, and Commander Cody all monitoring the posts to ensure nothing mission-critical is revealed. The Jedi council has already talked it over and agrees that so long as no protocol is breached, they should be allowed to continue.”

“We can get Echo over here if you want to double-check that nothing is against the Reg manual,” Skywalker said, a smile gracing his lips.

Damn. The council already approved of it. He supposed bringing it to a vote on the Senate floor would be a bit too much of an overreaction. Though… this could be another tool in his toolbox. Perhaps he couldn’t manipulate the padawan, but he could manipulate what she was putting out in the world.

“Then perhaps the senate should have a say in the videos,” he tried. “After all, it’s well-liked by the people and we’ve already successfully used it in the war once. Perhaps it can be another tool. A diplomatic one,” he smiled at them. “I’m sure the padawan wouldn’t mind using her voice for peace.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Koon said. “Part of the appeal is that this is an honest look at the life of Ahsoka and the clones.”

“If the senate were to try and control the videos in any way,” Amidala added, “people would be able to tell and turn away from it. They might even feel betrayed and support for the war could drop.”

“Chancellor,” Secura said, “people are allowed to have hobbies outside of their jobs. It’s fine if this is something for fun. Besides, there is so much pressure on our padawans. Even more than before. Having this little bit of levity with no expectations of it being ‘useful’ is probably good for Padawan Tano and the troops.”

He was getting stonewalled out of this argument. Losing his audience quickly. If he kept pushing, they’d start questioning. He was not going to allow that.

He sat back in his chair and nodded. “Very well. Please, forgive me, master Jedi. I did not mean to suggest we turn a child into a propaganda mouthpiece. I was merely hoping that this tool might end the war early.”

“If it does, then it does,” Kenobi said. “But, not everything must be a tool for victory. Sometimes, it’s simply enough for it to just be.”

“Wise words from a wise Jedi. Well then, Senator Amidala, would you like to take the lead on welcoming Mistress Ja’ani to the Republic.”

“Of course, Chancellor,” She bowed slightly. “I’ll get started on that right away.”

“Fantastic.”

One by one the Jedi either turned off their holograms or filed out of his office. Eventually leaving him alone. Except for that blasted intern.

He looked at the datapad once more. The Creche to Command site was still open on it. It was probably nothing, but he’d keep an eye on it. And, from now, he’d have to ensure his victories and defeats better.

******

CommanderCody: Rex, when are you meeting back up with us? Everything hurts.

CaptainRex: Kenobi’s still using you for lightsaber practice?

CommanderWilco: You get to practice with a lightsaber? Lucky

CommanderCody: Not an actual lightsaber. Just some sticks. He does it because he ‘doesn’t want his form to go’ and ‘he doesn’t have anyone else to spar with’, and ‘if he ever runs across Dooku or Grievous he wants to be sure he can show those old bastards who is in charge’, and other bullshit.

CommanderGregor laughed at “Not an actual lightsaber. Just some sticks. He does it because he ‘doesn’t want his form to go’ and ‘he doesn’t have anyone else to spar with’, and ‘if he ever runs across Dooku or Grievous he wants to be sure he can show those old bastards who’s in charge’ and other bullshit.”

CommanderBly: I’ve got some news, guys.

CommanderGree: Hey, Bly’s back! How was Jonda? Success?

CommanderBly: Surprisingly yes. Apparently, Creche to Command can be used as a diplomatic tool. Ja’ani only agreed to join us after watching the Med Bay episode.

CaptainRex: Still can’t believe she ratted me out. I need to figure out a way to get her back.

CommanderCody: Good job on Jonda. That’ll be a great asset to the war. A base there would be so much help strategically.

CommanderBly: Yeah, but that’s not my news.

CommanderBly: Palpatine now knows about Creche to Command.

CommanderWolffe: Dammit! He better not ruin this for us! I got about fifty videos of Wolfpack being the best company in the GAR that need to be seen by the public.

CommanderWilco: Does anyone else think it’s a bit unfair that Wolffe is the one that decides which videos go up on ‘The Best Of’ compilation?

CommanderWolffe: Do something cool and maybe your company would show up.

CommanderGregor: Gonna need some ice for that burn, Wilco.

CommanderCody: Was Palpatine worried or something?

CommanderBly: I think he was. He tried to get it shut down. But when that didn’t work, he tried to convince the Jedi to let the Senate take it over.

CaptainRex: If he tries to manipulate Ahsoka into being a mouthpiece for propaganda, I will desert.

CommanderWolffe: Easy there, vod’ika. Sounds like he didn’t get his way.

CommanderBly: Luckily Amidala went to bat for us.

CommanderPonds: Man, I love Skywalker’s wife so much. Always goes to bat for us.

CommanderBacara: Are they married? Or are they just an item?

CommanderPonds: Either way, love Amidala. You go Amidala!

CommanderCody: Now that Palpatine knows, we really do need to get Fox in on this.

CommanderWolffe: I tried last time I was in Coruscant. He didn’t let me get two words in before he threatened to throw me out a window for distracting him.

CommanderCody: Does Thire know? Maybe he can help.

CommanderPonds: I’ll be in Coruscant next week. I’ll see if I can’t get one of the Guard Commanders to watch it.

CommanderGree: So long as the series keeps up. Offree’s been more open lately and I think seeing Tano interact with the troopers has helped her realize she doesn’t need to keep us at arm's length.

CommanderCody: I don’t think we have to worry about Palpatine shutting it down. It’d look like a massive overreaction if he tried.

CaptainRex: I want to know why he cares so much about a silly little video series. Especially if it’s helping us win the war.

CommanderCody: Careful, vod. You’re on the GAR network.

CaptainRex: Just something to think about.

CommanderCody: Everyone just keep an eye and ear out for any information. And try not to get charged with treason.

CommanderWolffe: Sir, yes sir.

Chapter Text

Out of the speakers, a cacophony of noises spilled out. A shrill drill to his ear drums. Why anyone would find this amusing was beyond Dooku. But, per the request of his master, he sat and watched every brain-dead episode of ‘Creche to Command’. He was trying to see what his master was so worried about.

As one of the clones pranced around the room, shouting in broken and poorly pronounced mando’a, he struggled to see anything more than a series so void of intelligence, only the most idiotic of creatures would find any source of amusement in the videos.

The playlist finished. His brow furrowed.

“So?” Lord Sidious prompted. Rather rudely and sharply, he might add.

He still struggled to see what the big deal was. And he was thankful Qui-gon had never had access to such a series. He had been difficult enough to manage as is. Something like this would have only given him more ideas.

He sighed and tossed the datapad down on the desk. “So what?” he asked, looking towards Lord Sidious’ hologram.

“What do you think?” he hissed.

He decided it was best to be honest. Maybe that would get him out of this conversation faster so he could get back to work. “It appears to be nothing more than a mindless holonet series. An exercise in buffoonery that serves only to distract the forces. I will say, based on what I am seeing here, I am ashamed my apprentice has struggled so much with killing these clones. They do not seem to be the advanced warriors we were promised from the Kaminoans.”

“You may see it as a frivolous, innocent series. But it gained an ally with Jonda.”

Ah, yes. He had heard about that. A loss, to be sure. Jonda’s strategic position and natural resources would give the Republic a leg up. The war tilted ever so slightly in their favor. But what was Lord Sidious expecting, sending all those Jedi and Senators there? Mistress Ja’ani was still allowing them to come. Any separatist attempt to contact them were chased off with weapons. It was clear who she had a preference towards. Eventually, she would have joined the Republic.

“War is unpredictable. There is no way of knowing if Jonda joined because of this series, or because of some other force. Perhaps she was already planning on joining but this was simply the thing that tipped her hand.”

“That’s not good enough!” Lord Sidious shouted. He slammed his hands on something, probably his desk.

Dooku hoped he was not currently in the senate building having this conversation. All those interns and senators and shock troopers wandering around could overhear them and figure out their plans. He was not convinced the inhibitor chips were all the Kaminoans promised and he did not like to put his faith in a group of people so clearly enamored with their Jedi.

“I know all the key players in this war,” Lord Sidious continued. “I know the sides. I know the leaders. I see every move everyone is going to make. I have it all planned out who needs to be where and at what time. War is unpredictable, I understand! I cannot control the losses and sometimes even the victories. But I can control the major outcomes. This series was never part of the plan. It was never supposed to be a tool. But now it’s here and despite my best efforts, I cannot gain control of it. Not without arousing suspicion. It’s dangerous.”

Dooku managed not to roll his eyes. He rather thought this was an overreaction. “Even if you’re manipulating both sides, there are other factors that will be outside of your control. If you had known about this abhorrent series, would you have ever predicted the clones would use it to win over Jonda’s people? Would you have ever guessed something this ridiculous would be a valuable asset to the Republic? I would not have. It is a silly, little series by a silly, little girl.”

“It feels bigger than that. More powerful.” Lord Sidious shook his head. “Tell me you feel it too. In the Force.”

Dooku reached out to try and feel what his master felt. There was… something there. A small bit of light that had not been there before. Glimmering in the distance. Like hope. For a brief moment, Dooku was blinded by it. Drawn to it. It reminded him of Qui-gon. It reminded him of Yaddle, of what she had said to him in the hangar.

For a brief moment, he had hope.

He snuffed it out quickly and returned to the topic at hand. He had made his choice. Sealed his fate. The Jedi were serving a corrupt system that only sought to line the pockets of rich and greedy senators. The separatists were no better but at least they were open about it. That light meant nothing.

War was hell.

Eventually, that light would get snuffed out as everyone that girl loved died horrible deaths.

It might even help them in their cause, in the long run. The brighter they were, the harder they fell to the Dark Side.

“Why would you think that?” he asked. He hoped Lord Sidious did not sense his brief temptation back to the light. “What about its appeal makes you so cautious?”

“That’s the thing,” Lord Sidious growled, “I don’t know. I asked my intern to gain some insight.”

“And?”

“She got this dimwitted, dreamy look in her eyes and said ‘Jesse is handsome’.” He scoffed and truly looked disgusted at the admission.

“Don’t they all look the same? Which one is Jesse?”

“I don’t know!” He snapped. “But, Amidala’s intern overheard and decided to barge into my office to tell me that no, Jesse wasn’t the hot one. Echo was.”

“Okay?”

“And before I knew it, I had about sixty Senate interns in my office arguing over which clone was the hottest!”

“Did they come to a consensus?”

“No. They did not. At one point, Chuchi overhead and decided to chime in.”

“Who did she find attractive?” It was fascinating that so many people had such strong opinions over a group of men that were bred to all be the same. It would be like having a favorite droid.

“She said ‘Commander Fox was rather nice to look at’. Disgusting.” He did look like he was going to vomit at those words.

“Has Commander Fox even been in one of these episodes?”

“I don’t know! I sure as hell can’t tell them apart. All I know is now all the Senate interns are arguing over which clone is the most attractive. They have a poll going and everything.”

“At least we know that for the 18- to 26-year-old demographic the draw seems to be the general attractiveness of the troops. I suppose you could ask the Kaminoans to make them a bit less appealing or something.”

“That’s not going to make a difference now!”

Dooku looked back at the datapad on his desk. Another playlist had started. This one was titled ‘Best of the GAR’. These were much shorter episodes and seemed to be taken primarily during battle with the body cams of the clones. He winced as he watched one clone grab a metal pipe and swing it at the head of a tactical droid. The hit knocked it clean off and into the cameraman, who fell back on the dirt from the force. His armor was painted green.

He tapped his fingers on the desk, still struggling to see what Lord Sidious saw in this series. From what he could tell, there was no ill intent or strategy behind these episodes. They were unfocused drivel that devolved into chaos not long after they started. The camera they were using wasn’t even of high quality. He expected this to be a novelty for the citizens of the Republic. One that would wear off soon as taxes were raised and the war continued. And then things would go back to normal.

“My lord,” he started slowly, picking his words wisely so as to not anger his master any more than he already was, “I assure you this series will not cause us to fail in our mission. The little girl is no threat to us. My apprentice tells me she is over-confident. Cocky. Sloppy. There is a good chance she’ll die in her next battle.”

“She survived in a fight against Grievous.”

“Luck was on her side that day. But good luck runs out eventually without a plan to bolster it.”

Lord Sidious snarled.

“All I’m saying is that she does not appear to be a brilliant tactician. Nor does she appear to have any indication that you are a Sith and is using this episode to undermine your authority and your planning. Therefore, this series has no reason to be part of the war effort. Let her have her fun. After Order 66 is executed, she’ll see where the loyalty of her brothers truly lies. And she will suffer for it.”

“Very well.” Lord Sidious still did not look convinced. “I want to keep an eye on this series for now. Something is happening with the Force. It’s small now, but even the smallest ripples can create tidal waves. I want to stop that from happening.”

Dooku bowed. “As you wish, my lord.”

Lord Sidious’ image disappeared and he was left alone once more. He glanced back down at the datapad. Now, a clone was walking away from a tank as it exploded. The fireball lit up against the sky. How he wasn’t thrown to the ground from the shockwave was beyond him.

“It’s a silly little series from a silly little girl. There’s nothing we need to worry about,” he assured himself.

Now, then, he had actual work to do.

*****

Ponds absolutely hated coming to the Corrie base. Maybe that was because he had never come down here for fun or a nice chat. No, he only ever came down here when his men got drunk off their shebs’e and were thrown into Fox’s drunk tank. And, because the man never slept, he always called Ponds as soon as it happened. It didn’t matter if it was two in the morning or if he had an important meeting with the general. In fact, Fox seemed to have a particular knack for calling him at the most inopportune times. He would have thought Fox was doing it to mess with him. But that was giving him too much credit.

Fox didn’t do anything for fun and a ‘vacation’ to him meant ‘more than thirty minutes of sleep in one sitting’. The man was absolutely insane and not fun to deal with. Yet another reason Ponds hated coming down here.

But he was here now. Cody’s orders. Someone had to get Fox in the loop now that Palpatine found out. Sadly, that person was Ponds.

At least no one had gotten arrested this time.

Yet.

He stood outside the entrance longer than he cared to admit. Maybe he could just lie to Cody about talking to Fox and then go back to his barracks where he could get some much-needed rest.

No, that wouldn’t work. Cody could sniff out a lie from the other end of the galaxy. It was an annoying trait.

“Why did it have to be me?” he groaned.

A few Corries were milling about around the entrance, starting to take notice of his loitering. He might as well get this over with. He’d prefer to be arrested because he was speaking blasphemy against the Chancellor, not because he was loitering outside the base.

He stepped through the door and marched to the front desk. A trooper named Sol didn’t even look up as he thrust a datapad in his direction.

“Fill this out and wait here while we collect your troops,” he said, eyes glued to something that decidedly did not look like work.

Ponds took the datapad and tossed it back on the desk. “I’m not here to bail people out. I’m here to talk to Fox. Is he in?”

Sol looked up at him. “He’s always in.”

“I know. But is he in a meeting? Or sleeping?”

Fox would kill him if Ponds were to interrupt him during a meeting. The rest of his men would kill Ponds if he were to interrupt Fox while he was sleeping.

“Um…” Sol looked conflicted. “I don’t think he’s in a meeting. But I would come back later. He’s kind of busy.”

Understatement of the century. Ponds rolled his eyes. He should probably stop hanging out with Wolffe so much before that became a habit.

“He’s always busy. I’ll see myself to his office.”

In one smooth move, he hopped over the desk and marched towards the back.

Sol made a strangled noise in the back of his throat, wide-eyed and once more conflicted over what to do. Stay at his post, or try and stop Ponds from distracting Fox.

In the end, he seemed to favor stopping Ponds as a chair clattered to the ground and he called, “Sir, you can’t go back there!”

“I am a commander. I can and will speak with Commander Fox. The matter is urgent.” He used his best ‘I’m a commander do as I say or else you’ll be cleaning carbon scorching off the hulls of ships for the next eight months’ voice.

It did not seem to deter Sol. “Yeah, I know, sir. But… the commander is really busy right now. We’ve been tasked with dealing with a serial killer in the lower town. I think Senator Amidala has eight hits out on her today—”

“Nine!” Another trooper called. “New one just got called in.”

“Yeah, nine hits out on her. Jonda’s in the process of joining the Republic so that’s a shit load of paperwork that we have to deal with for some reason. There was an escape attempt at the prison yesterday. Palpatine’s been more pissed off than usual—”

Ponds turned a corner, kind of enjoying the fact that Sol was having to jog to keep up with him. “All things he normally has to deal with. This is important and I won’t be long.”

“Archer, help!” Sol hissed. “The commander is going to kill us if we let him in there.”

Ponds rolled his eyes and shook his head. But could anyone blame him? Corries could be so dramatic.

“He’s a commander, though. Can we do that?” Archer asked.

He stopped in front of the door and turned to face the two troopers. “Commander Cody asked me to speak to Commander Fox himself. I’ll be in and out. There’s no need to freak out and panic. Maybe it’ll even put him to sleep.”

“Sir, please,” Sol begged one last time.

It was no use. Ponds would not leave here without at least trying to talk to Fox. And, if he did kick him out (which he would) then that would be Cody’s problem, and he could try his luck.

He didn’t even bother to knock as he stepped inside. “Fox, I need to talk to you.”

He kicked scattered caf cups and some sort of energy drinks nicknamed ‘chargers’ out of the way. Fox was at his desk, a stack of datapads almost reached the ceiling and several more were stacked on the floor.

He took one look at Ponds and snarled, “Get out.”

“I’m sorry, sir. We tried to tell him that you were busy—”

Ponds rolled his eyes and shut the door in Archer’s face. Yeah, he definitely needed to stop hanging out with Wolffe.

“Ponds, I’m busy. I don’t have time to deal with whatever it is the rest of you idiots are up to.”

“I’m not getting out until you listen to what I have to say. It’s important.”

“Everything is important!”

“It’s about Palpatine and the GAR.”

Fox threw his hands in the air. “Yeah, of course, it is. Everything is about Palpatine and the GAR because that’s our whole existence. War, and Palpatine making our lives miserable. I know you lot seem to think I do nothing but twiddle my thumbs and help old ladies cross the street, but I do actually have a job.”

Ponds winced at the accusation. There was a pretty wide divide between the Corries and the rest of the troopers. It was like they operated in two different worlds.

“I don’t think you do nothing all day. Hell, Fox, the amount of caffeine in this room alone is proof enough that you work hard. And that your heart rate is probably way too high. But this is serious and you need to be in the loop. Cody’s freaking out and Rex might be thinking of committing treason. Do you even know what’s going on with the holonet right now? Have you even heard of—”

“Nope.” Fox stood up and shoved Ponds towards the door. “No. No. No. No. No. I am not getting caught up in whatever it is you’re doing. The more I know, the more trouble everyone will be in when this inevitably comes crashing down. It’s Cody’s job to make sure Rex stays in line. Not mine.”

Ponds dug his heels in but knew he was losing the battle. “If you would just listen for five minutes—”

“Five minutes with you mean five more hours of work for me. I don’t have five hours, Ponds. I’m not listening. If you lot are planning on overthrowing the government, you’re going to have to do that on your own time.”

“That’s not what this is!”

“Then it really does not concern me.” Fox won the battle and shoved him out the door. “If he comes back in here, you have my full permission to stun him and throw him in the drunk tank until his general comes to pick him up. Is that clear?” Fox didn’t wait for an answer before shutting the door on Ponds’ back.

He stumbled forward and turned back to glare at it.

“Um…” Sol glanced at Archer who seemed unsure of what to do.

Ponds sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He was not getting General Windu involved in this.

“It’s fine, boys. I’m on my way out.” He went to do just that when a thought occurred to him. Fox might be overworked and unable to enjoy even a simple holonet series, but the rest of the Corries might not be.

“You boys ever watch ‘Creche to Command’?”

“Yeah, of course, we do,” Archer scoffed. “Who doesn’t?”

“Commander Fox,” Sol said.

“Oh. Right. But the rest of us do! And the ‘Best of the GAR’ shorts. Commander Wolffe hasn’t accepted any of our submissions yet, though.”

“You’re not alone in that.” Ponds grumbled.

Wolffe seemed to delight in being a gatekeeper for what counted as ‘cool battle moments to inspire the troops, spark fear into the hearts of Seppies, and make the neverd’e love us even more’. It annoyed Ponds to no end.

“Do Thire, Stone, and Thorn know about it?”

“Yes, sir,” Sol replied. “They don’t watch every episode but they do know of its existence.”

Cody was just going to have to accept that answer. “Good. Tell them Palpatine wanted to shut it down and then when he was told no, he wanted to turn it over to the Senate for full control. We would appreciate it if you guys could keep an eye on him. Maybe alert Commander Cody or Captain Rex if he tries something else. Okay?”

They saluted. “Yes, sir.”

“And, if you can get Fox to sit still for ten seconds, fill him in on what’s going on.”

“With all due respect, sir,” Sol started cautiously, “ why are you so concerned with Chancellor Palpatine?”

Ponds’ eyes flickered up to a camera on the wall. Recording everything. Reporting back. Gathering evidence.

“We just know that aruetiise can sometimes be confused with the trooper culture.” He said, hoping that was vague enough that anyone trying to gather evidence wouldn’t think twice about it.

“Right,” Archer said. He didn’t sound convinced by Ponds’ explanation.

He should get out of here. “Alright. I’m not going to bother you, boys, anymore. Good luck on that serial killer or whatever it is you’re chasing.”

They saluted him once more as he walked towards the front. He headed back to the barracks. Not to sleep though. Oh no, his trek around Coruscant was not complete just yet. But, he needed some unmarked armor for where he was headed next.

Cody wanted a report. But what they were talking about couldn’t be discussed over GAR-issued equipment.

Everything was recorded and filed away. Every single chat log. Every single holotransmission. Every single report. All of it. No one was sitting at a desk monitoring every single thing that had ever been uploaded on the GAR network. That would be madness. But it was all recorded. Just in case something happened and evidence needed to be gathered. Or just in case a random inspection was called for to search for evidence of a mounting insurrection. Or even just to check and make sure no one was selling death powder to the troops.

All this was to say that any chat that didn’t feature unwavering loyalty to the Republic and its Chancellor was dangerous. Cody was right to shut down Rex’s questions the second they appeared in the logs. If anyone got a hold of it and saw that Rex so much as hinted that Palpatine may not be the best Chancellor in the galaxy, he could be accused of treason, arrested, and decommissioned.

This was one of the reasons Ponds wished Cody would stop this hyper fixation of Palpatine’s reaction to a holonet series! Palpatine was incapable of having fun! And a sense of humor! And being personable, especially towards the younger generation! He should leave it alone and let Palpatine continue to be a stick in the mud.

But he wasn’t.

Which was why Ponds was currently trekking his shebs through Coruscant in unmarked armor to access one of the only places he could for sure know he wouldn’t be listened in on. When everything you ever said was monitored in case of treason, you had to get pretty creative when it came to finding some privacy for conversations.

Stepping into 79’s, he brushed past a horde of troopers who would probably be meeting Fox very soon and pushed his way up to the bar. Hopefully, no one recognized him. There were a few benefits to sharing a face and voice with thousands upon thousands of men all over the galaxy. It made it very easy to blend in.

“I’d like a 97 on the rocks,” he said, sliding a handful of credits to him.

The bartender nodded and gestured for him to follow. They made their way through the crowd and into a small back room. It was sparsely furnished with only one ancient, aging, barely working holoprojector on a dingy, run-down table that had uneven legs. The room itself was disgusting and looked like it hadn’t been cleaned since Coruscant was founded.

He wrinkled his nose as some rat-like creature scurried across the floor. There should be two rooms for clandestine calls. One for troopers who wanted to call secret lovers, and another for commanders who needed to discuss possible treason.

Beggars couldn’t be choosers, though and he did his best to ignore the state of the room.

“Twenty minutes,” the bartender said.

Ponds nodded and shot Cody a coded message to let him know he was ready to talk. He better be available. Ponds was not dragging his ass back down here and spending even more credits to talk to Cody at another time. If he wasn’t available, Cody would just have to deal with it.

The holoprojector lit up. Cody had his helmet tucked under his arm and looked like he had just finished a battle. “I’m guessing you didn’t have any luck?”

“Where are you calling from? Not on a GAR network, right?”

“Relax, vod. We’re planetside right now. I’m using a neverd network and a holoprojector I had Racer pry off a tactical droid.”

Ponds shook his head. “Telling me to ‘calm down’ is rich coming from you. You’re so worked up about Palpatine plotting something that you’re acting like we’re planning to overthrow the government. It’s a holonet series. Relax.”

“Did you get Fox up to speed or not?”

“No, I didn’t. He threatened to stun me and throw me in the drunk tank if I tried talking to him again. Seriously, Cody, what are you so worried about? What about this situation has you so on edge? Palpatine tried to take over the series and turn it into propaganda. That’s par for the course with that man.”

“Only after he tried to shut it down.” He said.

He took a deep breath. Cody was definitely one of their more high-strung brothers and it got on Ponds’ nerves sometimes.

“Vod,” he started.

“It’s weird that his first reaction was to shut down a series that helped us gain an ally,” Cody cut him off before he could speak. “And an ally we desperately needed. If he had started with the propaganda, I wouldn’t be suspicious. But Rex is right. Why would he try to shut down something that’s, at best, helping us with the war? And, at worst, something that’s just for fun?”

“What are you trying to say? Do you think Palpatine is some separatist sympathizer? A traitor leaking information to our enemies?”

“Maybe. Come on, Ponds. This war, it feels like no matter what we do, we never make any progress. Every win is countered with a loss. Intel is rarely right. We suffer high casualties when we do win. Massive pieces of information are missing. We’re the best-trained fighters in the galaxy but we keep losing key planets or drawing stalemates at others.”

“Because we’re fighting a war, Cody. And while I haven’t fought in any other wars before, I’m pretty sure it’s not easy to win one. So, pieces of intel are missing? That seems logical to me considering we piece it together from transmissions, spies, and informants. Wins are countered with losses? Yeah, that makes sense. It’s not like the separatists are poorly funded. They’ve got some massive firepower behind them.”

“You fought their clankers. They’re useless. Stupid! We should easily be able to wipe the floor with them,” he countered.

“They also are produced en masse. Sometimes, war is just a numbers game. It’s not about strategies, it’s about who has the most bodies to throw at the enemies.”

“What is the plan for troopers after we win the war? Why isn’t the Senate discussing what they want done with us?”

“Because half of them don’t see us as human. They’ll probably have mass decommissioning. Cody, please, this isn’t some conspiracy. This is life.”

“Something else is going on here,” Cody urged, refusing to back down.

“No. Why would Palpatine be a separatist? And why would he be such a piss-poor spy? He literally leads the Galactic Republic. What could he possibly gain by having this war in the first place? Spending all this time and money and energy while he plays both sides?”

“Maybe he has a different goal.”

He let out a long suffering groan “Oh, come on. You can’t seriously believe that ‘shadow leader’ rumor all the shinies keep yammering on about.”

“It’s an explanation.”

“It’s a ghost story to try and make sense of a universe where nothing makes sense. The idea that Palpatine is fighting some third, secret war and we’re all just pawns, including the separatists, is too complicated. The simplest explanation is that he’s a dick who hates that clone troopers are shown having fun and bonding with their commanders. He tried to shut it down because, like I stated before, and literally every trooper knows, he’s a dick.”

Cody was not convinced and Ponds was starting to get a headache.

“Thire, Stone, and Thorn all know and they’ll keep an eye on the bastard,” he relented. “Vod, gedet’ye, don’t go looking for conspiracy theories where they don’t exist. If anyone were to find out you’ve been thinking shit like this…”

This got Cody to deflate ever so slightly. He massaged his brow. “Maybe you’re right. I just… in my gut, I feel like something here isn’t right. Something here isn’t adding up. It’s driving me mad.”

He understood what he was talking about. Sometimes, when it was quiet and he had trouble sleeping, something settled in his bones. Thoughts and questions swirled in his head until he felt dizzy trying to find explanations for puzzles he wasn’t supposed to be solving.

Something here isn’t right. That’s what his mind would scream at him as he desperately pushed those thoughts away.

“I think you’re just tired.” Maybe he meant Cody. Maybe he meant himself. It didn’t matter. They were all tired. “Go. Finish out your campaign. Get some rest with the 501st for a bit. I promise, if something is up, we’ll figure it out and we’ll deal with it.”

He nodded. “You’re right. Thanks for trying, Ponds.”

The holoprojector flickered off. Ponds was left alone in the dingy room in the back of a dingy bar, with nothing but his thoughts and a growing headache for company.

There was a pounding on the right side of his brain towards the front. He hissed and pressed his hand to it. He’d have to have one of his medics take a look at that. They had scanned his brain in the past but hadn’t found anything. The headaches were frequent though. Frequent and annoying.

He rubbed at his forehead and stepped back out into the main area, leaving the bar before anyone could recognize him.

He hoped Cody was wrong. He prayed Cody was wrong. Because if he wasn’t, if something else was going on here, if Palpatine had some other plans for them, that could only mean trouble. And if Palpatine really had the power and influence to pull off what Cody was suggesting he could pull off, that made Ponds very, very afraid.

*****

“There’s more clankers incoming!” Gree shouted over the sounds of blaster fire.

Barriss was quick to follow his gaze to the opposite end of the canyon they were currently pinned in. It was supposed to be a pretty easy sweep of the canyon to see if any other droids had survived their initial assault. Droids had survived their initial assault. A whole army of them, in fact. There had to be double what the intel originally stated. They had called her master for backup almost as soon as they realized there was a whole other battalion’s worth still on the planet. However, they weren’t the only ones that had stumbled upon more enemies. Master Unduli had her own army she needed to defeat so they were on their own for now.

The team was holding their own against the droids that kept spilling into the canyon, but maker there was no end to them.

“How many are there?” Blackout shouted. He scrambled out into the open for a brief second. Shots nipped at his heels before he dove behind a small pile of rocks, popping up and firing at the enemies. Barriss was relieved when he was not injured. Sometimes these troopers could be so reckless!

Gree said they were lucky. Apparently, Ahsoka’s troopers were even worse when it came to throwing themselves into dangerous situations.

“I need to get over to the mouth,” Barriss said, turning to Gree. She felt useless crouching behind rocks with Gree. She still had her lightsaber, but that required her to be out in the open to deflect back the shots. Maybe she should take up Gree’s offer to learn how to use a blaster.

Though, the use of a blaster felt very un-Jedi-like. Jedi used lightsabers. An elegant weapon meant to keep peace, not to prolong war. Though that also required her to be out in the open and up close with the very things trying to kill her and her men.

“There’s too many,” Gree said.

“Precisely. Droids are slow to turn. If I can just get behind them I can cut them down before they even know what’s happening and give us a chance of getting out of this alive.”

At one point, winning had been the ultimate goal. She had lost too many men today for that to be a goal any longer. Now, she just wished to keep those who were still breathing, alive.

“I can move along the cliff sides and get behind them.”

“Sir, there could be even more around the corner, though. You’ll be caught in the middle.”

Why did troopers insist on arguing with her every time she proposed something? They never argued with Master Unduli.

“We are suffering heavy casualties and we are pinned down. I am willing to take that risk.”

Gree hesitated.

“Either I die here cowering behind rocks, or I die at least trying to cut down their numbers. I know which one I’d rather do. And I am not asking for permission. I am telling you so you can give me cover.”

Gree sighed, muttered a string of what she assumed to be curses in Mando’a (she really needed to ask Ahsoka what they meant), and then nodded. “Fine. Only because you’re stubborn. Blackout, Light, Taze,” he shouted, “get ready to direct those clankers’ blaster fire at you. The Commander needs some cover.”

“Copy that, sir!” Taze replied.

He turned back to Barriss. “On three. One. Two—”

He didn’t get to three. In the corner of her eye, she saw a tank round the corner. She barely had enough time to react, throwing both herself and Gree out of its range. They were lucky to avoid getting blasted to pieces.

Their luck only went so far. Or, rather, her luck only went so far. The combination of the shock wave, the windy nature of the planet, and the way she fell knocked her head covering off. She knew it was off because she could feel the wind in her ears. Her head covering… she needed it! It had to stay on at all times. She needed… where was it?

She felt the dirt beneath her palms and the wind in her ears. Completely froze on her hands and knees as her mind descended into shock.

“Dar’beskaryc!” someone shouted.

Then, as quickly as her head covering had flown off, something slammed over her head, covering her face completely. The force it had knocked into her and rattled her brain. For a second, she feared in her frozen horror, a ton of rocks had crumbled on her.

But that wasn’t what had happened.

What had happened?

“Don’t worry, commander. Didn’t see nothing.” Someone rambled, right beside her. “Neither did the other boys. Too busy trying to take out the tank. Soon as I saw it shift, I closed my eyes. Surprised I got it on your head so easily. That’s aim for you, I guess. Practice and whatnot. Come on back to us. No need to panic. We still got a battle to win.”

Barriss blinked several times. She brought her fingertips up to whatever was covering her head. The pads met hard plastoid.

She looked over at Gree, still numb from shock. Shock gave way to panic when she saw Gree no longer had his helmet on. She could see his face, completely unmasked and exposed to the elements.

“Come on, kid. I know this is a big deal for you so I’m trying not to rush, but we do kind of need to keep fighting,” Gree urged once more. He still wasn’t looking at her; focused completely on firing at the droids.

“This is your helmet,” she said, finally realizing what was on her head. It was too big for her, wobbling precariously as she moved to look around. The HUD was odd to look through. There was a lot of information flying across her eyes. Was this how Gree saw every battle? How did he focus on anything?

“Yep. Hope it’s not too sweaty in there. Probably would have been better if you needed to wear it at the start of the battle.”

“You need your helmet! It protects your head!” Despite her protests, she made no move to pull it off. She couldn’t see her head covering anywhere. And she shivered at the thought of fighting with nothing covering her head.

“I’ll be fine. Especially if you take out that tank.” He looked at her and grinned. “Come on, commander. Let’s finish this fight. Alright?”

She knew he was right. The faster she took out that tank, the less danger Gree and the others were in. She took a deep breath and steadied herself.

Grabbing her lightsaber, she readied herself for the final push. “Same plan as before?”

“You know it. I’m still hesitant, but you’re right. We don’t have another choice. The boys have done a good job distracting them. You’re good to go, sir.”

She nodded. The helmet wobbled on her head, forcing her to use her hand to tilt it back up so she could see. That was going to be annoying to deal with.

She jumped up onto the cliff wall, lightsaber drawn as soon as she got into position. She leaped down on the tank, slicing through the barrel and sending it veering into another cluster of droids. Once that was completed, she hopped from droid to droid. Slicing through them with ease. They reacted just as she anticipated they would, struggling to turn and follow her. Sometimes, when they did turn, they didn’t stop firing, taking out their own comrades in the process and making her job much easier.

She would have gotten the job done faster, but this blasted helmet made it difficult to fight with. It kept wobbling all over the place, creating blind spots she wasn’t used to dealing with. Sometimes, she’d turn her head and the helmet wouldn’t turn with her! And, when it wasn’t wobbling to and fro, the information scrolling across the display was just as distracting. It kept locking onto droids as if she were aiming a blaster and feeding her information she had no use for. It was a miracle Gree didn’t walk out of every battle with a massive headache. And it just further solidified her decision to never wear a helmet or armor.

She powered through it and made a note to not mention any of this to Gree. He had made himself vulnerable for her sake and she was not about to let it go to waste or react in any manner other than gratitude.

She sliced through the last droid and the sounds of blaster fire ceased.

“Good work, sir,” Gree said, trotting up to her.

The rest of the men all but collapsed on the ground, panting from the long and hard battle.

“Taze, anything else showing up on the scanners?”

Taze groaned and lifted a scanner in the air. “No, sir. I think we’re good.”

“Alright. If you boys are all uninjured, try and see what data you can strip from the clankers. I want to know why they didn’t show up on our scanners. I’ll take the commander to the med station and get her situated.”

“Yes, sir,” Light saluted him and gathered up the remaining troopers to dig through the pile of scrap Barriss had left during her assault.

“Would you like this back?” she asked. “I can rip off a piece of my clothing and—”

Gree put a heavy hand on top of her head. “Oh no, you don’t. Keep that thing on until we get to Spine.”

“But—”

“We’re not being shot at so it’s fine. Besides, now I have an excuse to ignore whoever is bothering me on the comms.” He grinned.

She decided not to argue. There was no reason to and she appreciated not having to rip her dress apart to create a makeshift head covering.

They made their way to the other end of the canyon where their med tents had been set up. The closer she got, the more troopers there were. These were all her men and she trusted them, but now that she had Gree’s helmet on, she couldn’t help but feel exposed. Possibly even more so than if she didn’t have her head covering on.

The feeling caused her stomach to twist and turn in all manner of ways. She had fallen behind Gree, cowering and hiding behind him like a child. Her Head ducked as if that would stop people from realizing what she had on her head. Gree made no mention of it and led her through the mess of tents and troopers receiving medical care.

She braced herself for the inevitable comments and stares. What would they say? Would they be curious? Or would they scoff at the fact that she apparently could not function without a piece of cloth on her head? Would they poke fun at Gree? Or would they simply roll their eyes when they saw her?

Sometimes mean comments and stares happened back at the temple. When she was younger, other children would constantly ask her why she covered up. They teased her constantly and a few of them even tried to pull it off when she was least expecting it. Thankfully, the Creche Masters did not put up with that nonsense and punished any children that tried such a thing.

They couldn’t stop the stares, though.

And the whispers.

She feared the day she’d be assigned to a Jedi master who didn’t understand how important it was to keep her head covered. The relief she felt when Master Unduli introduced herself as her master was staggering. That feeling quickly went away when she met hundreds of human men who probably didn’t know the first thing about her culture or her biology. They never made any comments, but she assumed that was because their either respected Master Unduli too much to make a comment, or they didn’t care.

She convinced herself that these differences would never become a problem. They’d never have to be addressed. She’d never have to worry because she’d never lose her head covering.

Except she was wearing Gree’s helmet. She had worn it during a battle. She had yet to take it off. Remarks should have been made! Men should be staring at her like she had grown an extra head! Why was no one commenting on this?

“Gotcha another patient, Spine,” Gree said as they entered the furthest tent.

This one was suspiciously lacking in injured troopers. Now that Barriss thought about it, she and Master Unduli were often placed in tents that were empty or nearly so. In the last episode of ‘Creche to Command’ Ahsoka’s medic, Kix, had made a comment about how they had a special protocol for her. She hadn’t thought much about it at the time. It was getting harder to ignore now.

Spine looked up. “Ah, nice to see you again, commanders. Follow me.” He motioned for them to go even further back and pulled up a curtain that completely blocked Barriss from the outside.

“Hang on, let me just scan you to make sure you’re not dying.” He pulled out a scanner and ran it over Gree, fiddled with it a bit, and then ran it over Barriss. “Right. Mild scratches and burns. No concussion. Congratulations, neither of you are dying. Which means Green has officially knocked Nova off as having the lowest number of injured troopers for the month.”

“Finally!” Jester called from somewhere else in the tent. “Those bastards have been hogging that top spot for six months now.”

“You have a competition to see who has the lowest injury rates?” Barriss asked. She didn’t like how her voice sounded coming out of the helmet.

Spine shrugged. “The medics have to make their fun somehow. We did talk about having a ‘most injured’ or ‘weirdest injuries’ competition. But it was decided Torrent would win every month and that wouldn’t be fair. Alright, out you get, Gree. But don’t go far. I want to put some bacta on that arm of yours.”

“Yes, sir.” Gree slipped out from the curtains. Barriss could feel his presence nearby, lingering.

“He’s only being so cooperative because he’s afraid Kix will tell me how to make a tranq blaster.” Spine smiled at her.

“It’s a valid fear!” Gree cried.

Spin chuckled but made no move to deny it. “Alright, Commander, you know the drill. Alright if I take off the helmet?”

He always asked for permission, even though she had never denied him. This time, she did hesitate, still feeling exposed and vulnerable with the helmet on. She swallowed those emotions down and nodded, hands gripping the sides of the medical cot as he gently lifted it off her head.

Spine was quick to start his work. He rubbed some bacta gel on cuts that had come about when she had been thrown to the ground.

“How often do I have to tell you not to stand near explosions?” He clicked his tongue.

“I did attempt to move myself and Gree out of the range as soon as I realized.” She grumbled.

“Alright. I’ll let it pass this time.” He reached behind him into a field kit, pulling out a black cloth. “Now that your head's all done, let’s get you situated. Need any help putting this on?”

He held out the black cloth and she stared at it. Was that what she thought it was?

“Why do you have a head covering in your field kit?” she asked.

“In case something like this happens.” Spine replied. “All the medics have one. And, if you ever are with another squad, we make sure their medics are debriefed and have extras as well.”

She took the head covering in her hands. It was softer and thinner than what she usually wore, but it would do in a pinch. She pulled it on. The weight settled on her head and calmed her nerves. “I didn’t know you were tracking that.”

Spine scoffed. “Please, it’s necessary to you so it’s necessary to us. Be warned, though, Stix is going to expect compliments. He’s the one that sewed them all up.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Of course, he made us a couple hundred. But, only a dozen or so are useful. His sewing skills are… subpar. He’s getting better though. Goal’s to have one on every trooper in the next month. Medics get priority, though.”

She ran her fingers along the material. “Well, thank you. You didn’t have to.”

“No problem, sir. Gree, get your shebs in here. I was serious about the bacta.”

Gree let out some difficult-to-hear grumbles and stepped in. He smiled at her. “All good?”

“Yes, thank you for your quick action.” She handed him back his helmet.

“No need to mention it. We’ve been running drills on this very scenario after you joined us. Just in case, you know?” He hissed as Spine slapped a bacta patch on his arm. “Do you have to be so rough?”

“Yes. Heals it faster.”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“Are you a medic?”

Gree glared at him.

“Then don’t argue with me.”

As much as Barriss enjoyed watching the two bicker and poke at each other, she still had questions she wanted answers to.

Biting her lip, she looked down at her hands and asked in a quiet voice, “What does Dar’beskaryc mean?”

She had never heard him shout that before. Nor had she heard any other trooper shout that.

“Hmm? Oh, it means ‘no longer armored’,” Gree explained. “Quick way to tell the men that your head stuff is off and they need to look away. If they can. You know? Living is more important but we’re going to try our best.”

An emotion twisted its way into her heart as the full picture revealed itself. They were prepared for this. They had practiced this. They had a protocol for this. They had special materials in their field kits for this.

All for her?

“Why?” she asked. She did not mean to speak it out loud.

Gree looked taken aback. “Cause you’re one of us. We look out for our own.”

He sounded so sure of this. He felt sure of this. It wasn’t even a question in his mind. The emotion twisted itself even more.

“Thank you, commander,” she choked out. She needed to get out of there before they realized her mind was spinning and whole waves of emotions were crashing through her.

“No problem,” Gree said. “You should probably go call the general and let her know we’re done here. See if she needs any help.”

“Right. Of course. Thank you, Spine. Thank you, commander.” She hopped off the cot and practically ran outside. Once more, no one made any comments. Not even Stix. He only beamed when she thanked him for his work.

She was grateful her conversation with Master Unduli was over the holoprojector. She only half paid attention and her mind kept wandering to what had happened on the field. Thankfully, Master Unduli did not notice or comment on her state. Perhaps she thought Barriss was distracted because the adrenaline was still draining from her system after a hard-fought battle.

She needed to know what to do about these emotions. The pressure in her chest was building and she feared it would break her ribcage. Perhaps she should talk to her master? Something about that suggestion made her wince. Talking to her master often required her to have a certain amount of decorum in her speech. She chose her words carefully and worried about making a mistake.

Maybe she was making a big deal out of this. Maybe she needed to just let it go and accept that the troopers cared about her and she cared about them and everything was fine.

Her mind kept wandering back to the moment she realized Gree had taken off his helmet and put it on her. Her chest twisted again.

“A distraction is what I need,” she said, pulling out a datapad and scrolling through the holonet.

It appeared Ahsoka had uploaded another video on ‘Creche to Command’. A perfect distraction! She clicked play. As soon as the video started, a thought came to her. She could talk to Ahsoka!

After all, if anyone knew what it was like to have troopers care deeply about you, it’d be her. Even when they first met, she felt the troopers’ attachment to her and Ahsoka’s attachment to them. At the time, she felt angry that Ahsoka was disregarding what it meant to be a Jedi so flagrantly. That anger faded and twisted into what she truly felt: jealousy. She was jealous Ahsoka could be so open with the troopers. She was jealous she had a string of men visit her after they had been pulled from the rubble of the factory, and then again at the med bay after the brain worm incident. She was jealous that they had inside jokes and that Ahsoka could speak to them in Mando’a.

Barriss was so lonely sometimes and she wished she had Ahsoka’s relationship with the troopers. She struggled to engage with them, though. She worried it was too late. They had known her as their stiff and distant commander. Any attempts to forge a friendship would likely be awkward.

Or so she thought.

Because, apparently, while she was trying to maintain the relationship she had established between herself and the troopers, the troopers were having none of it. They were forging their own relationship with her. And she was completely unaware!

But now she wasn’t.

In an instant, everything had changed. She felt both giddy and scared at the prospect.

“Yes, I need to call Ahsoka. She’ll know what to do,” she said. But first, to finish this video.

*****

Sabacc! And How to Stay Entertained when There’s Literally Nothing Else to do!

“Hi, guys! We’re still trapped in the med bay,” Ahsoka said.

“You’re not trapped, you’re healing!” Kix shouted.

“Don’t listen to him. We’re prisoners,” Fives moaned. “Prisoners of War.”

“For the love of the Force,” Kix muttered as he hauled Rex up on the bed.

“Did they try to run?” Hardcase asked. “Is that why they’re tranqed?”

“Nah, we just didn’t want to have to deal with them awake,” Coric said as he got Anakin situated on his cot.

Hardcase shuddered. “Are all baar’ur’e ori’bescaryc? Or is it just ours?”

“Heard back from Waxer and Boil. All of them are ori’buyce, kih’kovid.”

“I will keep you here longer. Don’t test me, Fives,” Kix growled.

“N’eparavu takisi,” Fives said quickly.

“Are you guys done now?” Ahsoka asked. “I doubt our viewers want to watch you argue.”

“You underestimate how entertaining we are,” Fives said.

“They’re laughing at you, not with you,” Coric said.

“No, they’re laughing at Hardcase. They’re laughing with me.”

“Why you—”

“Guys!” Ahsoka said though she didn’t seem too bothered by the argument. “Come on, let’s follow the script.”

“Fine, vod’ika” Hardcase grumbled.

“Thank you. Now, since we’re stuck in the med bay with nothing better to do, we decided to go over ways to keep ourselves busy when there’s literally nothing else to do. And you don’t want to do your temple work.”

“And you don’t want to fill out paperwork,” Fives added.

Ahsoka laughed. “Yeah, that too. You guys should recognize these two by now. But, just in case you’re new, this is Hardcase and Fives!”

“Hello once more to all you tiny, little, baby Jedi!” Hardcase beamed.

“And for all of you asking, the thing Ahsoka and Jesse did to me was stick glitter in my hair and all over my kit. I’m still trying to clean it off and I don’t regret selling Ahsoka out to Kix.” Fives glared at her.

She laughed. “Great segue, Fives!”

“That wasn’t a segue. I’m still trying to figure out a way to get you back.”

“The first way you stay entertained on long journeys is by pranking each other,” Ahsoka continued. “Don’t underestimate the creativity of the troopers. They can get a lot done with almost no supplies.”

“Like that time we moved all the captain's stuff in his office five inches to the left.” Hardcase started laughing, wiping tears from his eyes. “He kept running into stuff all day!”

“It looked like he was about to cry by the end of it,” Fives added, howling with laughter.

“He did cry when he went to put his caf cup down and missed the table, spilling it all over the floor.”

“Guys, he didn’t cry.” Ahsoka rolled her eyes. “He stared at the ground for several minutes and then said in a monotone voice, ‘Maker, why have you abandoned me?’. It was great.”

“Not as good as the time we tricked General Skywalker into believing Dogma could use the Force.”

“That was amazing!” Ahsoka beamed. “I hid in the vents and we pre-planned out this whole routine as ‘proof’.”

“We started small,” Hardcase continued. “Moving plates around and whatnot. The General kept denying it.”

“And then,” Fives slapped his knee and gasped for air. “And then Echo started levitating! General Skywalker’s eyes popped out of his head! I thought he was having a stroke!”

“Truly one of the greatest,” Hardcase said. “I highly recommend it to the baby Jedi out there. You can mess with a lot of heads that way.”

“Moving on from pranks, another way you can, and should, spend time is sparring with the troopers.” Ahsoka continued. “Yes you have your lightsaber forms that you need to practice, but learning to fight hand-to-hand like a trooper is invaluable. You really expand your knowledge and gain a whole new cache of skills you can use.”

“Especially since Jedi never seem to be able to hold onto their lightsabers.” Fives sent Ahsoka a pointed look.

“I hold onto my lightsaber!”

“The only reason we were near the building Hardcase was blowing up was because you lost it and needed my help to search through the rubble.”

“That was one time!”

“This battle! I swear, we need to tether you and Skywalker to your lightsabers. Kenobi too. I know Commander Cody is constantly going off into the wilderness to find it whenever he drops it.”

“This would all be fixed if they also had a blaster to use,” Hardcase pointed out.

“For the last time, I’m not going to use a blaster.”

“A vibro knife then? Or a cannon? Or a large stick?”

“Or I can just punch the droids.”

There was a clattering from off-camera. “Do not! Under any circumstances! Punch. The. Droids!” Kix screeched. “I hate that Jesse did that in front of you and I have never forgiven him for doing so.”

“But,” Hardcase said, “Commander Cody once kicked the head off a clanker so—”

“If you kick a head off a droid I swear to the Maker I will kill you!”

“Alright, so no learning how to punch droids,” Ahsoka said before Kix’s blood pressure increased anymore. “But, the hand-to-hand thing still stands. Sometimes you’ll be in a situation where you can’t use a lightsaber. Sometimes you’re undercover and someone puts you in a chokehold and you need to break out of it. Sometimes, Fives tells a group of shinies that torgrutas say hello by howling and growling at each other and you spend a week wondering why people keep growling at you and when you do figure it out, you need to wipe the floor with him.”

“Ha, classic,” Fives wiped a tear from his eye.

“All good points,” Hardcase said. “Ask the troopers to spar. They can teach you how to punch. Kick. And, if you’re assigned to Commander Wolffe, bite. And a few of the dirtier moves.”

“But sometimes, you don’t want to fight. You don’t want to prank. You just want something mindless and easy to occupy your time.” Fives pulled out a deck of cards. “As promised, Sabacc! It’s a card game that is perfect for passing the time.”

“Basically, you have to collect a hand with an absolute value closest to 23, but no higher,” Hardcase added. “There are a couple of different versions so you’ll have to see which your troops use. Especially since there are variations in the card decks. “

“You can play it with as few as two or as many as eight players,” Ahsoka added. “But, talking about a card game is boring. So how about we play a round and show them how it’s really done?” she grinned.

“Interesting proposition there, vod’ika,” Fives grinned back. Smile as equally sharp as hers. “But how about we make this a little more interesting? What are you willing to bet?”

Ahsoka thought for a moment. “I’ll do to Rex what I did to you if I lose.”

“Oho,” Hardcase laughed. “The captain will kill you if you dump glitter all over his kit. You know that, right?”

“I do,” she said. “But I won’t lose.”

“Really?” Fives said. “We’ll see about that. Hardcase, what’s your wager?”

“Hmm,” Hardcase stroked his chin. “That’s a hard one. How about, if I lose, I have to do the winner’s work for a day. All the cleaning duties. The inventory duties. The paperwork, within reason, of course. All of it.”

“Oh, that’s a good one!” Ahsoka said. “I’m definitely winning now.”

“Not if I don’t win first.” Fives shot back. “The Captain’s got me on gunship cleaning duty this week and I’d love some help, Hardcase.”

“Oh, you won’t win, vod. But what’s yours? What is your wager?”

Fives smirked. “If I win… I’ll… give Commander Cody a sappy love confession.”

“In front of everyone,” Hardcase added.

“And we get to write the confession,” Ahsoka said.

“Hmm, I don’t know about that,” Fives furrowed his brow. “Yours all seem mild compared to mine.”

“Fine,” Ahsoka said. “I’ll also dump glitter all over Cody.”

“You are mad,” Hardcase shook his head.

“So, what do you say? We have a bet?”

“Hmm, I don’t know.”

“Oh, afraid you’ll lose?” She grinned at him once more.

“Oh, no I won’t. I am going to see the captain and commander covered in glitter if it’s the last thing I do,” Fives said. He finished shuffling the cards and handed them out.

Now, it was up to fate and luck to determine the winner.

*****

Ahsoka was in her quarters, struggling with what to write when the message came in.

Barriss: Are you free for a talk?

She felt her heart skip a beat. She and Barriss did chat fairly often. It was nice to have another padawan (and another girl) to talk to. Yes, the troopers were her brothers, but they were all battle-hardened guys. Sometimes she just wanted to talk about girly things with Barriss.

So, while Ahsoka wasn’t shocked to see the message come through, something about the way it was worded seemed urgent and different.

Ahsoka: Of course! Is everything okay? I’m in my quarters now.

Barriss did not respond. Instead, the holoprojector lit up with an incoming message. Rex had given it to her not long after she had joined. She never asked him where he got it from, sure he hadn’t gotten it through approved means.

The fact that Barriss was calling her and not using the chat logs really made Ahsoka worried. Something had happened. She only hoped it wasn’t too tragic.

She answered it immediately. “Barriss, are you okay? Did something happen? Is Gree okay?”

Barriss bit her lip and glanced around as if she didn’t want to be heard. “Commander Gree is fine.”

“Another trooper, then?”

She didn’t answer right away. Ashoka felt her heartrate skyrocket as all the worst possible scenarios ran through her head. Should she call Anakin? Rex? Cody? Master Unduli?

No, she should wait until Barriss told her what was going on, and then she could panic.

“Please, what is it? You can talk to me, I promise.”

Barriss took a deep breath and nodded. “Very well. I… um… that is to say… do you…”

She was torn between letting her stutter it out or start asking leading questions. She wasn’t exactly in this position very often. Usually, she was the one stuttering and tripping over her words.

Maybe she should reassure her! “It’s okay, Barriss. Whatever it is, we can figure it out.”

“Right… Sorry… I just… it’s a little complicated and I don’t know who else to talk to but I figured you likely have more experience than most but I also don’t know if maybe I’m reading too much into it.”

Okay, now Ahsoka had the opposite problem. Instead of stuttering half sentences, she was rambling. Without any context, she couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

“Barriss, please, start from the beginning.”

She nodded and took a second to compose herself. “How attached to the troopers are you?”

Ahsoka’s mind went blank for a beat and then started to race with panic and worry. Yes, Rex and Wolffe had assured her that her attachment to the troopers was not going to be her eventual downfall, but she still worried. Anakin wasn’t exactly a great person to learn about attachments from. And, truth be told, she spent most of her time around troopers instead of other Jedi. It wasn’t like she had a lot of sources she could turn to. What if Barriss heard that Ahsoka was going to be kicked out of the order because she was too attached to the troopers and was trying to figure out if there was a way they could fix this?

“What do you mean?” she laughed nervously. Should she call Anakin and ask if he had heard anything about this? Or maybe Master Kenobi? Or Master Plo? One of them had to know something about it and be able to help her! She didn’t want to leave the order!

Barriss swallowed. “Well… I fear I might be… attached as well.” She winced as the words tumbled from her lips.

Oh.

Oh.

That was not what Ahsoka was expecting her to say. “You think you’re attached?”

Barriss winced. “No? Yes? Maybe?” She let out a groan and threw her hands in the air. “Today in battle my head covering came off.”

“Oh no! Are you okay?” She didn’t know much about why Master Unduli and Barris wore the coverings, but she knew it was important they stayed on no matter what.

If it came off during battle, it was probably very traumatic for her.

“Yes, I am alright,” she said. “Before I could fully comprehend what had happened, Commander Gree took off his helmet and put it on me. He did not hesitate. He left his head vulnerable and open so I could keep my head covered. They even had a special word to let the other troopers know not to look at me!”

“And this makes you think you’re attached to them?”

She nodded. “When I went back to the med tents, no one said a word about it. They all acted as if it were perfectly normal. As if it’s an everyday occurrence. I don’t think anyone even stared at me. And people always stare at me even when my normal head covering is on. And then when I was with Spine, he revealed that they’ve been sewing me emergency head coverings and keeping them in the field kits just in case. Something about the fact that they have special items just for me made me feel… weird? It’s hard to explain.”

Now that, Ahsoka understood. When she found out Kix had a special field kit all for her, it made her feel both incredibly vulnerable and incredibly protected. Those attachments, which had already run pretty deep, had now deepened even more. They cared for her. They were looking out for her. No one asked them to do it. She had read the reg manual (or rather asked Echo to recite relevant passages for her) and nowhere did it say Medics had to take into account non-human issues. She certainly never asked Kix to do that. But he did.

Rex had told her she was vod, a brother. To be treated and looked out for like any other brother. But they weren’t looking out for her like any other brother, they were going above and beyond. Beyond what even she expected from them. Something about that made her stomachs do all sorts of flops and flips.

So yes, she did know what Barriss was talking about. And she did understand why she was so nervous talking about it.

“And now you think you’re attached?” she asked cautiously.

Barriss was always more of a stickler for the rules than her. She and Echo would probably get along great. If Ahsoka struggled with the Jedi Code and how the troopers fit into that, then this must be tearing Barriss apart. She didn’t know if she had the necessary skills to help her friend through this. But she would try.

“I don’t think I am. I know I am,” she admitted. “And I’m afraid to talk to my master about it in case she is disappointed in me. I’m a Jedi. I’m not supposed to have any attachments.”

Right. Not every master was like Anakin, who got so attached to everything she doubted he’d see the problem.

“I know how you feel,” she admitted, bringing her knees in and resting her chin on them.

Barriss looked relieved.

“I’m attached to the troopers too. Rex, Wolffe, Cody, Kix, Jesse, Fives, Echo, Dogma, Hawk, Sinker. There are so many of them. And I care for them all so deeply I’m afraid that if they get hurt, I’ll fall.”

“Exactly,” Barriss breathed. “Gree could have gotten seriously injured today. And it would have been all my fault.”

“What, no, Barriss, it wouldn’t have been!” Ahsoka exclaimed. “You didn’t willingly take off your head covering. And he made the choice to give you his helmet, not you.”

“Still. They’re soldiers. They get hurt. That’s what they were born to do.”

Rex had told Senator Amidala something similar back when they were infected with the Blue Shadow Virus. The troopers were born to die. And she hated that they were. No sentient creature should ever be born just to die. That was the sticking point for her. They’d all die eventually. It was inevitable. But why go through the process of creating a living, feeling, thinking creature just to treat its life as meaningless?

This wasn’t about her, though. This was about Barriss. She had to say something. What would she want someone to tell her?

Probably what Wolffe and Rex had told her not too long ago.

“I talked to Rex about this,” she said quietly. “Back when I realized, or rather admitted to myself, that I was attached.”

Barriss looked up at her. “What did he say?”

“That no matter what happens, I need to choose the light. I need to turn towards it. If he dies tomorrow in battle, I need to make the choice not to turn to the dark side. I can’t stop every bad thing from happening to them, but I can choose how to react.” She looked up at her, sure of herself, more than she had been in the past. “And I know that I’ll choose to turn towards the light. I’ll honor their memories and win this war for them. But I won’t let darkness guide my actions.”

“How can you be so sure?”

She shrugged. “I guess I can’t be until it happens. But, I also know that it’s the only choice I have. I’m not going to distance myself from these troopers. If their lives don’t matter, then no one’s lives matter. It’s my job to keep as many of them alive as possible. If I’m not attached to them, then they’re just droids. To be used, abused, and discarded as soon as they’ve served their purpose. I refuse to let them be treated that way.”

Barriss smiled at her words. “Thank you, Ahsoka, for speaking to me about this.”

“Of course. It’s not like we have anyone else to talk to.”

“We have our masters.”

“Eh,” she rolled her eyes. “Let’s face it, we’re growing up in a different world than they did. Master Unduli never had to command a legion of clone troopers in a war against a bunch of siths. I’m sure all the masters are doing their best, but it’s different now. Things are different. What it means to be a Jedi is different. The code never accounted for any of this. Sometimes I feel like the masters are making it all up as they go along. ”

“I wish it were not that way.”

“Yes, but we don’t exactly have a say in the matter.” She decided to switch the topic of conversation. “You should bond with the troops more, though. Especially since they’re doing their best to make you feel comfortable and safe. ”

“I don’t know, that feels dangerous,” Barriss said.

“Come on,” she groaned. “You just admitted you were attached to Gree. The least you can do is be a bit friendlier towards him and the others. They don’t bite! Well, Wolffe bites, but not without reason. Mostly. Sometimes if your hand gets too close to his face, he’ll bite it. I’m getting off topic.”

“But, I’m not like you,” Barriss said, biting her lip. “I’m not sure I wish to partake in ‘pranks’ or Sabacc with the men. I’d rather discuss the latest peer-reviewed paper on—”

“Ugh, Rex mentioned some trooper named Tech who’s also super into research and stuff. Maybe I’ll see if I can scrounge up his contact information so you two can be nerds together.

“That doesn’t exactly get me closer with my troops,” she said.

True. They needed something Barriss and Gree could bond over. Barriss did not seem like the type to trick Master Unduli into thinking Blackout could use the Force. And she did not seem to think that dumping glitter all over a troopers kit was very funny (if her grumbling, while Ahsoka and Jesse dragged her along to shop for supplies, was any indication). There had to be something, though. Something that didn’t involve reading boring papers about boring subjects.

Then, a thought came to her and she grinned. “Hardcase and I actually need some help with something. I’ll add you and Gree to the chat. It’s going to be great.

Barriss looked at her suspiciously. “Will this get us in trouble?”

“Maybe, but that’s half the fun,” Ahsoka said. She could not wait for the bonding opportunity she and Gree were about to get.

*****

The 212th had finally caught a break and were spending some time with the 501st after a long and hard campaign. Waxer was more than happy for a few days' break, even if the 501st could get a little rowdy.

It was nice to kick back, relax, and meet up with some old friends. Swap some war stories. Show off some new scars. Complain about how Wolffe rejected their badass moments for ‘The Best of the GAR’. The usual.

Waxer and Boil were kicking back in the mess hall, where a lot of familiar faces were gathered. The blue and gold blended together as troopers talked, laughed, and ate with one another.

Commander Cody and Captain Rex were walking through, talking amongst themselves about boring CO stuff.

Waxer was starting to think this break would be their least eventful yet!

Then, Ahsoka, Hardcase, Fives, and Echo stepped into the room. This, in and of itself was not cause for alarm. He wouldn’t have looked twice if he hadn’t noticed Ahsoka and Hardcase practically vibrating with excitement. Hardcases’ default state seemed to be ‘vibrating with energy’, but this was different. Maybe because Ahsoka had a camera in her hand and Fives looked like a man about to die. Pale, shaking, and with haunted eyes, Waxer had never seen a man look so terrified and defeated at the same time. Echo didn’t seem to care; rolling his eyes, shaking his head, and muttering to himself.

Waxer’s brow furrowed as he tried to figure out what was going on.

“Come on, Fives,” Ahsoka chirped, pushing him forward.

Fives stumbled and turned back to her. “Vod’ika,” he whined, “Gedet’ye. Can’t we do something else? Anything else? I’ll dump glitter on the commander.”

“That’s really the better option?” Echo said.

Hardcase laughed and slapped him on the back. “Nope. You’re the one that put the bet forward. And you accepted when we raised the stakes. Now come on, we worked so hard on it. Commander Offree would be heartbroken if you didn’t do it. She’s a true poet.”

Fives looked at Commander Cody and then back at the group. He whined again. “He’s going to kill me.”

“No, he won’t! He’s all bark, no bite.”

“Like hell he is!”

“I believe in you!” Ahsoka gave him a big smile and a thumbs up.

Echo sighed and massaged his brow. “I can’t believe you three are actually going to do it. Fives, I told you to quit playing with her. You never win.”

“I thought I had it this time! And I still needed to get her back for what she did to my hair,” Fives moaned. “And Rex covered in glitter, Echo! Surely that would have been a sight to see! Surely that would be worth the risk!”

“I’m still covered in glitter after your attempt to cover Jesse in glitter by replacing his practice detonators! I am karking done with glitter and I swear to the Force if anyone uses it again, I will be the one tossing people out the airlock. Not the captain!”

Fives must have realized he was never going to get Echo, Hardcase, and Ahsoka to give up and turned his head wildly for another ally. His eyes locked onto Jesse’s. “Vod, please, help me!”

Jesse grinned and shook his head. “Quit stalling, brother. Go tell Commander Cody.”

“And don’t leave anything out!” Ahsoka said, pushing him forward once more.

Waxer nudged Boil and pointed at the group. “He looks like a dead man walking.”

“What do you think they’re up to?”

“Don’t know. Let’s get it straight from the source. Wooley!” He called.

Wooley trotted over to them. “What’s up?”

“Fives is about to get his ass kicked by our CO and I want to know why.” Waxer slid off the bench and went up to the group.

Ahsoka and Hardcase were still snickering while Fives practically dragged his feet on the floor as he completed his death march.

“Hey, Waxer, Boil, Wooley. How are you guys?” Ahsoka asked.

It always amazed him that she remembered their names. They had barely spoken to each other and he sure as hell wouldn’t have blamed her if she hadn’t remembered.

“If you’re wondering what you smell like, Wooley you smell like cotton, Waxer smells like melted wax, and Boil you smell like snow.”

“Oh. Interesting. And not what we’re here for,” Boil said.

At least they didn’t seem to smell like anything weird or gross.

“What’s with the camera, vod’ika?” he asked.

The word directed at Ahsoka felt foreign on his tongue and his heart may have skipped a beat when referring to her as such due to nerves. He had always referred to her as ‘commander’ or ‘sir’, no matter how many times she asked to be called by her name. To refer to her as anything else felt way too formal for a commander he barely knew. But, after seeing Jesse talk to her in Mando’a, he decided to try it. If the 501st decided she was a brother, then he best start treating her as one. Though, there was a chance that while she considered the 501st aliit, other troopers might be considered aruetiise. He didn’t want to overstep her boundaries or misread a situation.

“We’re going to record Fives and upload it to the site. This is going to be great,” she replied. She didn’t mention his use of the word. It was like he called her vod’ika all the time.

He relaxed a little. It did feel nice to be a little less formal than her.

“This for ‘Creche to Command’?” Wooley asked.

“A special episode to go up with the Sabacc one,” she said.

Pieces started falling into place and Waxer became a lot more excited for what was about to happen.

“We should be on an episode,” Boil said. “We’re way more interesting than these idiots. I don’t see why the 501st gets to have all the fun.”

Hardcase wrapped his arms around Ahsoka’s shoulders and yanked her to him. “Our commander, our series.”

“You’re just afraid we’ll show you up,” Wooley said.

“Guys, relax.” Ahsoka laughed. “I’d love to have you an episode. I got one on the mess hall that no one’s volunteered for if you two would like to join.”

“Oh, yes, give them the mess one,” Jesse said. “Because, you know, it’s impossible to make this slop look appealing.”

“Jesse.” Ahsoka groaned.

“Oh, you want to bet? I bet our episode will be way better than your stupid slang episode.”

“You’re on!”

“Nope! No. No. No.” Echo said, jumping between the two of them. “No more bets. At least not until after we scrape Fives off the floor because Commander Cody squashed him like a bug.”

“Fine,” Waxer said, rolling his eyes. “Tomorrow, vod’ika?”

“That works for me.”

They didn’t have much more time to discuss as Fives had finally shuffled his way to Commander Cody and Captain Rex.

During his dead man’s march, he caught the attention of every trooper in the mess. Slowly, the chatter in the room went quiet and all eyes were on him.

Commander Cody halted his conversation with Captain Rex and studied him, eyebrow raised. “Fives, can I help you with something?”

Fives took a deep breath in and let out a whine.

It felt like everyone in the room was holding their breath. Waiting to see what chaos unfolded in front of them.

Ahsoka pressed play on the camera.

“Fives, I don’t have all day. Spit it out or move along,” Cody said.

Fives, knowing he could stall no longer, got down on one knee and in a loud, clear voice, proclaimed to the galaxy, “Commander Cody, I love you!”

No one dared speak a word.

“What?” No one except Cody, that is.

“From the very first moment I laid my eyes upon you, I knew you were perfection. A pure Adonis cast in the stars, sculpted by the Gods themselves as proof that man can be beautiful perfection.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Your hair is as soft as a loth kitten’s. Your eyes sparkle like cerulean diamonds.”

“My eyes are brown and diamonds aren’t blue.”

“Love grows where ever you go. Soldiers lay down their weapons because to fight against perfection would be sacrilegious.”

“They literally don’t. I get shot at daily.”

“I’m going to admit,” Waxer whispered to Ahsoka, “this is not going in the direction I expected it. It’s way more detailed.”

“Yeah, Gree, Barriss, Hardcase, and I teamed up to write it.” She whispered back.

“Then let me support his endeavors.” He straightened back up and started clapping. “Go, Fives! Profess your love, you crazy kid!”

Fives flinched but continued on. “Truly, you are a man who can be compared to no other. I see the stars, and I think of your sparkling eyes. I see the sun, and it reminds me of your smile.”

“How long does this go for?”

“Angels cannot compare to your beauty. Rancors cannot compare to your strength.”

“I do actually have other things to do so if we could hurry this along…”

“When I am sad and alone in my room—”

“Please, do not finish that thought.”

“I only need to think of your beautiful face and my day becomes a little brighter. The coldness of night becomes a little less cold.”

“Oh, thank the maker.”

“When life seems overwhelming, I only need to think of our next meeting and I get that push to continue on just a little longer.”

Hawk let out a whistle. “Sing, it, Fives!”

“Every flower wilts upon gazing upon your beautiful face.”

“You lost a game of Sabacc to Tano again, didn’t you?”

“Every bird stops singing when you draw near because they know they cannot compare to your sweet, melodious voice.”

“Force, it just keeps going.”

“You’re doing great, Fives!” Jesse called, cackling and clapping.

The longer Fives went, the more people were shouting out words of encouragement. Poor Captain Rex though looked like he was torn between amusement and horror. Frozen, rigid in place as he stared bug-eyed at Fives still down on one knee, waving his arms about as he worked his way through the sprawling and never-ending love confession.

Ahsoka had fully doubled over, one hand pressed to her mouth to stop herself from laughing while the other clutched at her gut. The camera was floating in the air, swirling around Fives and Cody and getting some truly cinematic shots of the confession. Did the Commander even know she was recording?

“And when I think of you in battle, muscles rippling as you fight like a beast, beads of sweat dripping down your chiseled pectorals—”

“And we’re done here!” Commander Cody turned bright red and lunged at Fives, clamping a hand over his mouth before he could get any more words out.

The entire mess was howling with laughter. Several more troopers had entered to see what the fuss was about.

“Oh,” Ahsoka straightened back up, tears streaming down her face as she tried to breathe. “Oh, but he didn’t get to the part where he asked you to run away together and open up a loth cat rescue!” She barely got the words out before she fell to the ground, laughing.

“I think I got the picture,” Commander Cody said. “Fives, I’m flattered, but that’s a no from me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.” He dropped his hand and stepped out of the room.

Captain Rex snapped out of his shock and chased after him. The mess still rang with sounds of howling laughter.

Fives flopped face-first onto the floor. “Shit, I’m alive. I thought for sure he’d kill me. Tano, I hate you. You’re no longer aliit.”

“If 501st doesn’t want her, then we’ll take her,” Boil said, sweeping Ahsoka up and putting her on his shoulders.

“Oh, no you don’t. Fives, I love you, but I’d trade you in for a single nerf nugget if it meant keeping ‘Soka,” Tup said.

“Betrayed by my own family,” Fives moaned.

Echo sighed and walked over to him. “Come on, vod, let’s get you off the floor before the Commander comes back and decides to kill you.”

“You wouldn’t trade me in for a single nerf nugget, would you?”

“No.”

Fives smiled.

“I’d trade you in for a high five.”

Fives let out a wail. Echo seemed undeterred by his wailing and hooked his hands under his armpits, hauling him off the floor, dragging his limp body towards the door.

“Denal, if I die, I want you to have my blaster. It was going to go to Echo but he betrayed me.”

“No thank you,” Denal said. “It’s still covered in glitter.”

Echo dragged Fives out of the room while the laughter continued.

“Brilliant,” Waxer said, giving Ahsoka a high-five. “Absolutely brilliant.”

“It was his idea. We just… provided the confession.”

“Still brilliant. And I look forward to talking about the mess hall.”

*****

GeneralKenobi has added CommanderCody to the chat.

GeneralKenobi: I had no idea Fives was so enamored with you. Shall I request a transfer so you two lovebirds can be together? I promise to look the other way.

CommanderCody has added CaptainRex to the chat.

CommanderCody: Rex, you better have tossed Fives out the airlock for that stunt he pulled earlier.

CaptainRex: What stunt? All I saw was a man deeply in love and trying to be open and honest about his feelings. There is nothing wrong with that.

CommanderCody: It got uploaded on the Creche to Command site! As your superior officer, I order you to throw Fives out of the airlock! Hardcase too.

CaptainRex has added GeneralSkywalker to the chat.

CaptainRex: General, Commander Cody has ordered me to execute Fives and Hardcase. As my actual commanding officer, what say you?

GeneralSkywalker: Love is love, Cody. Embrace it.

CommanderCody: I hate all of you!

GeneralKenobi: It is okay to need time to come to terms with your feelings. Fives was quite descriptive with his love confession.

CaptainRex: That is a good point. I don’t think Ahsoka would have come up with the ‘beads of sweat running down your chiseled pectorals’ bit.

GeneralSkywalker: She better not have. She’s too young to know about any of that.

GeneralKenobi: Hardcase then?

CommanderCody: I’m not entirely sure Hardcase can read.

CaptainRex has added Hardcase to the chat.

Hardcase: Ooh, I’m finally on a private chat with the COs. Awesome!

Hardcase: What do you mean I can’t read!?!?!? I can read you bastard!

GeneralKenobi: Easy, Hardcase. We just wanted to know where you found some of the more descriptive pieces of your love confession.

Hardcase: Oh, I got them from Gree. Ahsoka suggested he and Offree get in on it. Some sort of bonding experience for the both of them? IDK.

Hardcase has added CommanderGree to the chat.

CommanderCody: Quit adding people!

CommanderGree: Are we here to support Cody and Fives’ relationship? I always knew you two crazy kids were in love.

CommanderCody: Quit messing around. I know you wrote at least part of that love confession! Where the hell did you come up with that?

CommanderGree: Offree read some classic poetry. Tano came up with this whole ‘happily ever after’ osik that involved you and Fives opening up a loth cat rescue that I’m truly gutted he didn’t get to. And I got my bits from some romance novels.

GeneralKenobi: I didn’t know you were such a romantic literature fan, Gree.

CommanderGree: Not me, sir ;)

CaptainRex: No!

GeneralKenobi: Really?

GeneralSkywalker: You could have said you had gotten the romance novels from Master Windu and I would have had an easier time believing you.

CommanderGree: Don’t tell General Unduli that you know. She doesn’t even know that we know.

Hardcase: Her secret is safe with us!

CommanderGree: When we’ve got some downtime, we make a whole big production out of it. Funny voices and all.

CommanderGree: You should hear my Palpatine impression.

CaptainRex: No thank you. If there’s one place I never want to imagine Palpatine, it’s in bed with another person.

CommanderGree: Though, we’ll probably have to stop that now that Barriss is hanging around a bit more. I don’t think I’m comfortable with her hearing Light read out smut in General Yoda’s voice.

Hardcase: Please. Send me a video. I have to see that.

CommanderGree: Get your own romance novels, Hardcase.

CommanderCody: I’m not getting Fives punished for this, am I?

CaptainRex: Accept the love, my friend. It comes rarely.

GeneralKenobi: Wise words indeed.

Chapter Text

Being a politician was hard. Being a politician in the middle of a war was even harder. Padme knew that being a politician was hard. She knew that the universe wasn’t perfect and there would be times when she wouldn’t get her way. She also tried not to judge those on the opposite sides too harshly. She liked to think that those that opposed her were good people trying to do right by their citizens, just like her. She wasn’t naïve, though, and knew that for some of her colleagues, war meant money. And they loved money. They were profiteers and would not bow easily to any attempts to shorten the war. Even if it would save billions of lives.

She knew all of this.

She accepted all of this.

She was willing to stay in office as long as her people wanted her to speak for them. She loved what she did. She loved making lasting changes that would better the lives of all citizens, not just the rich ones.

But even with all of that, she hated being a politician during this war. It seemed like no matter how hard she fought for peace; how hard she tried to push for negotiations, there was always something in her path stopping her.

And that thing was usually Chancellor Palpatine.

She could never say this out loud, but something about that man rubbed her the wrong way. He always seemed to say the right thing. The things she wanted to hear. Always. Without fail. Almost as if he could read her mind. He knew that she wanted peace talks so any time she brought up her concerns, he would agree with soft-spoken wishes for peace and a swift resolution to the war. He’d counter her accusations with gentle, warm smiles, and a sad weariness in his eyes that made her think he was just as tired of the fighting as she was. It put her at ease. Lowered her defenses. Made her believe that maybe, just maybe, the chancellor was on her side.

And then he would act. And his actions always pushed for bills that did the exact opposite of ending the war. He pushed for more troops. More aggressive military campaigns. More emergency bills that gave him more power. All of this slapped her in the face with just how she had been manipulated.

And no matter how hard she tried to remember that when they spoke, she’d always find herself slipping once more into a state of trust.

She did not trust Sheev Palpatine.

What’s more, she did not like how much he seemed to focus on Anakin. If Palpatine was manipulating her into quiet acceptance, then what the hell was he doing to her husband?

She wanted to talk to people about this. She felt like she needed to talk to people about it. Chancellor Palpatine was an immensely powerful man. If he had ill intentions, he needed to be stopped. Only, she felt like she couldn’t. Palpatine could manipulate her. Which meant he could manipulate other people as well. If she started speaking out, she might be accused of being a separatist. He might alienate any allies she had. He might have her deemed no longer fit for duty and have her forcibly retired.

Which meant she had to play the political game and do things in a more underhanded manner. No direct confrontations. Simply playing the senate floor as though her colleagues were chess pieces. Taking strategic losses put her in a better position to win.

It was exhausting and she hated how much she had to scheme now. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

She felt like she was fighting against two enemies instead of just one. And it was exhausting.

Thankfully, Padme did have a small band of senators willing to fight for peace with her, but not many. And, it felt like every day their list of allies was growing shorter and shorter. Sometimes, she had nightmares that one day she’d be the only one standing up for what was right.

For now, these were just nightmares. If that was indeed the path her allies were heading, then she should take advantage of her friendships now to do as much good as possible. After all, if she died tomorrow she’d die knowing she did everything she could for the people of the Republic.

“What do we think of this newest weapons bill?” Senator Mothma asked, scrolling through it.

“I still don’t get why they are spending so much money on gunships and munitions but cutting spending to medical supplies.” Riyo shook her head. “And they have buried our bill to improve the troopers’ armor.”

“It’s more profitable for the Kaminoans to create more clones than it is to heal the ones they already have,” Senator Organa said. “And we could probably improve our bill for better armor. I have a meeting with a researcher today looking at synthetic beskar. If we can figure out a way to produce it more cheaply and efficiently, we might have a chance. I say we let the weapons bill pass and reintroduce the armor bill in six months. We need to focus our negotiations on more pressing matters.”

“We’ve already let several similar emergency bills pass, though,” Padme said. “At what point are most of the Republic’s money just being funneled into a war effort we don’t appear to be winning?”

“That is a fair question,” Senator Mothma said. “But, I think Senator Organa is right. It’s too popular among the senate and we should be focusing our efforts on matters that are still up in the air.”

“We could add in an amendment to address Senator Chuchi’s concerns over medical supplies,” Senator Organa added. “Then we can focus the majority of our efforts on blocking the bill authorizing more extreme bombardments on Separatist planets.”

“That is true,” Riyo said. “They don’t seem to be targeting military bases from what I gather. I worry about the civilian casualties. War is hell, but we should not let it turn us into monsters willing to sacrifice innocent civilians to win.”

Padme sighed as the weight of the universe once more pressed on her shoulders. In a perfect world, she could negotiate with reasonable people and make them see her side. Then, they would agree with her, vote with her, and her concerns would be addressed. This wasn’t a perfect world. She wasn’t a perfect person. And sometimes there were blind spots in her views that benefited from debates with the other side. More to the point, sometimes they needed to lose some to win.

The weapons bill was widely supported by the Senate. There were a few senators they might be able to swing to their side, but it would take a lot of negotiations. And, if they negotiated on this, that meant they’d lose their power to negotiate with other things. Senators Organa and Mothma were right. They needed to focus their efforts on truly horrific bills from passing.

“Okay, I agree with Senator Organa and Mothma,” she said. “We’ll add in an amendment for medical supplies but otherwise we let it pass without much fuss. We can then focus most of our negotiations on the military bombardment bill. Senator Mothma, how are you doing on the outer rim relief bill? I’ve read some truly harrowing stories about children starving and parents selling them into slavery in the hopes that at least they’ll get fed on a more regular basis.”

“It’s slow going,” Senator Mothma said. The problem seems to be more systemic than anything so I’m trying to draft a bill that addresses these issues without accusing the outer rim senators of corruption.”

“If it walks like a bantha and talks like a bantha,” Riyo muttered under her breath.

“Very true, but until they’re voted out of office there isn’t much we can do. Stamping out corruption has never been a priority for the Senate. And this war has only allowed it to fest even more.”

Padme massaged her temples as a new headache sprouted up. It seemed like no matter how much work she did, no matter how many bills she passed or how much she negotiated, it wasn’t enough to even dent the problems this galaxy had. There was another player in the game, blocking her every move. Always one step ahead of her. Knowing how she’d react and anticipating it to get what they wanted.

Palpatine an insidious voice whispered in the back of her head.

That was the most likely candidate. But what could she do about it? If Palpatine was truly a corrupt man, then all hope was lost. A corrupt senate did not see the need to remove a corrupt politician. And it wasn’t like she could launch a coup or something. Such a turbulent turnover in power would likely lead to more strife in the galaxy, weaken them to Separatist attacks, and also required a much bigger military than she had access to.

Oh, what was she thinking? She couldn’t stage a coup! She was stupid to even entertain the idea. There were many more problems with that plan than just the need for a bigger military. She needed to focus on doing her job the best she could under the circumstances. Still, sometimes it was nice to dream about kicking Palpatine out of his office and taking over. Then she’d get shit done.

Sometimes, it felt like the only winners in this war were the systems that stayed neutral.

A knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts.

“Are we expecting someone?” Padme asked. “I thought it was just us for the meeting.”

“Actually, I invited the Jondan leader and senator for a quick meeting to introduce ourselves,” Senator Mothma said. She stood up and went to the door. “I hope you don’t mind. She might be a potential ally for us.”

That was a good point. From Master Secura and Commander Bly’s account, it seemed like Mistress Ja’ani had only agreed to join after realizing the troops were well cared for by their Jedi leaders. That was more concern with the men than most senators showed.

The door opened and Mistress Ja’ani and her senator, a Mirialan woman named Mara Lezien, stepped into the room.

“Mistress Ja’ani, Senator Lezien, it’s nice of you to join us,” Senator Mothma said, leading them into the room. “I’d like to introduce you to Senators Organa, Amidala, and Chuchi.”

“It is a pleasure to meet all of you,” Senator Lezien said, bowing her head slightly.

Mistress Ja’ani did not bow, merely narrowing her eyes as she studied each of them. Padme was used to being studied. One was not the youngest ruler in Naboo history without having their fair share of people studying them. She did not cower to Ja’ani’s narrowed eyes or the general air of distrust. She merely waited, curious to see if the newest addition to the Galactic Republic would find what she was looking for.

“I have seen all of you in action,” she said, breaking the silence. “We’ve studied you. To know what we were getting into. You seem to be the least corrupt of the bunch. And the most competent.”

Padme was taken aback by her blatant and open call out of the senators. Was she trying to make enemies? Maybe the Jondan leadership weren’t the shrewd political minds Padme had been hoping for. If Senator Lezien and Mistress Ja’ani were going to so openly critique the government, maybe Padme didn’t want them on her side. After all, she regularly had to work with those corrupt senators and pretend like their corruption was a feature, not a bug.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Riyo said, “if you find our system of government corrupt, why did you join us? As far as I am aware, there was no reason for you to leave the alliance of neutral systems. And Duchess Satine has been instrumental in keeping your people out of the war. Why enter it willingly now?”

“Bah,” Mistress Ja’ani stepped to the window, hands clasped behind her back as she watched the busy life of Coruscant rush by. “I am not a stupid woman, senators. I know my place in the galaxy and the natural resources of my planet offer a leg up to any who wish to claim it. Duchess Satine has helped keep my people out of the war, but sometimes neutrality and pacifism are not an option. Eventually, one side would have decided they were done negotiating and taken my system by force.”

“The Republic would never—” Padme started to say.

Senator Lezien cut her off. “There is a history of the Galactic Republic willing to use underhanded deeds to get what they want. They may not have launched an invasion, but there are other ways to take a planet, senator.”

Padme swallowed down her words. Her own devious schemes to get what she wanted rushed to the forefront of her mind. Yes, she was doing this for the greater good of the Republic. But how many of her enemies were also doing what they did for the greater good of their systems? People rarely saw themselves as the villain. And maybe Senator Lezien would judge her actions just as harshly as the actions of openly corrupt senators.

“Simply put,” Mistress Ja’ani turned to them, “I made a choice for my people. I joined the Republic so that I could keep my system and have the might of the Republic Army to protect me should the Separatists decide to take my planet by force. I did not make this choice lightly. And I pray I do not come to regret it.”

“Why the Republic, though?” Senator Organa said. “Their army is also a force to be reckoned with.”

He was testing her loyalties. Padme figured she didn’t have any. She was doing whatever it took to keep her people safe. If the Republic no longer provided that, Ja’ani would leave them.

That… that actually might be useful in negotiations. She’d have to keep an eye on Senator Lezien and see how willing she was to be a pawn to get what Padme wanted.

“I decided to choose the lesser of two evils.” Mistress Ja’ani shrugged. “The Republic has outlawed slavery. For the most part.”

“What do you mean for the most part?” Padme asked.

“The clone troopers. They are slaves, are they not?”

“What? No!” Senator Organa said.

Mistress Ja’ani simply raised an eyebrow. “So, they are able to leave the military if they so choose? They are able to take on another job if they do not want to fight? There is nothing keeping them here against their will?”

“The Clone Troopers are treated with the same level of respect as any other citizen in the Republic,” Padme assured her.

“But they are not citizens,” Senator Lezein said. “How can they be when they have no representation?”

“Senator Burtoni is the representative for Kamino,” Senator Mothma stated.

“I do not trust a representative whose economy is tethered to the servitude and production of an entire group of people,” she said. “If the senate were to no longer use the clone troopers tomorrow, Kamino’s economy would crumble. Therefore, they have a vested interest in keeping the troopers employed in the army.”

Padme bit her tongue. They were right. Senator Burtoni was focused on creating a prosperous Kamino, which wasn’t in and of itself a bad thing. However, that required more troopers to be created and sent off to battle. What Captain Rex had said to her during the Blue Shadow Virus still haunted her to her core.

Men should be born to do more than die.

“We do our best to speak for the troopers,” Riyo stated. Out of all of them, she was the one that took the biggest interest in trying to improve the lives of the troopers.

It wasn’t that Padme didn’t want to. It was that there was so much else to do. She had to pull her focus away from something. Still, she supported Riyo whenever she brought bills or amendments to the table.

Mistress Ja’ani waved a dismissive hand at her. “How can you represent a people whose struggles you do not understand?”

Riyo opened her mouth to argue, but it was clear Senator Lezien and Mistress Ja’ani were done talking.

“We have work to do,” the senator said. “Thank you again for your introductions. I look forward to debating with you on the floor.”

Their words had left the room in a decidedly worse mood than before. Padme felt ashamed by the callouts and was once more questioning if she was doing the best things for her people. Should she be doing more? Could she be doing more? Was she just as corrupt as the rest of the politicians? She didn’t take bribes, but corruption was more than simply taking a bribe.

“She’s right, you know,” Riyo said quietly. “The troopers deserve better representation.”

“We’re doing our best,” Senator Organa stated.

“Is it good enough?” she asked. “I feel like all we’re doing is reacting to plans already on the floor. But what if that isn’t what they need? What if there are other issues we aren’t even considering?”

“What else can we do, though?” Senator Mothma said. “Any attempts to bring this up to the Senate will likely lead to them pointing out that with Senator Burtoni, the troopers technically have representation.”

“Representation they didn’t vote for and who doesn’t have their best interests at heart,” Padme sighed.

“There must be something more we can do,” Senator Chuchi said.

“We can focus on ending this war as quickly as possible,” Senator Organa replied.

“And then what? They’re soldiers. What happens after the war ends and they’re no longer needed? Are we just to release millions of men out into the galaxy with no pensions, and no formal training for any other jobs? Are they even considered citizens? That’s a disaster waiting to happen.”

“Perhaps we should talk to the troopers about this and see what they need,” Padme said. “We may not be their elected representatives, but we can still fight for them whenever possible. For now, we need to focus on the bills in front of us.”

Riyo went to leave. She paused at the door. “I fear, though, that there will never be a good time to focus on their rights. Especially not during the war. And, when the war finishes, it’ll be too late.”

She left the office before Padme could reply. She needed to figure out some way to fix this. She could always reach out to Ahsoka and Anakin to see if there was anyone she could put her in contact with. Maybe after she fixed the munitions spending bill, she’d do just that.

*****

Fox couldn’t remember the last time he had had a good day. It was probably back on Kamino if he were to think really long and hard about it. Though, given the absolute hell he and his brothers went through to be ‘battle ready’, that probably wasn’t saying much.

Prior to the Jedi’s involvement in their training, Kamino had been one long torture chamber for the clones. They had to be a perfect army, after all. And that involved endless training and drills and classes. These in and of themselves weren’t bad. But the instructors were the reason many of his older brothers still woke up screaming. Still had trouble being in a room with their backs to the door. Still had scars and marks that didn’t come from any clanker or battle.

Most of their trainers had no issue with corporal punishment, leaving many of his brothers black and blue. And several didn’t even need an excuse to torment the clones. Sometimes they went too far and ended up killing them. Thankfully, this stopped pretty quickly. These were an investment from the Kaminoans, after all. It wouldn’t do to damage their products.

Still, you never forget your first death. Staring down at the body of a person, a living, breathing, thinking, feeling person only to know they were never going to live or breathe or think or feel ever again.

It was hell.

Kamino was hell.

Those who were designated commanders seemed to get it the worst. They were expected to be perfect. Perfect marksmen. Perfect leaders. Perfect in every way.

Mistakes were not allowed.

Mistakes were harshly punished.

Mistakes were to be avoided at all costs.

Many of the older clones feared the day they would be taken off of Kamino and put under the command of their Jedi. If the stark white halls of Tipoca City were Hell on Kamino, then what the fuck was an active battle going to be like?

They pictured cold leaders who didn’t give a damn about their lives. They pictured Jedi tossing them around like ragdolls for their amusement. They pictured life getting worse once out in the galaxy because they were expected to die then. At least on Kamino, they had the protection of needing to at least pass their final exam as a reason to stay alive.

He remembered before that first deployment, all the commanders had gotten together, shaking and afraid that life was about to get so, so much worse. Cody, who had always been eager to step into a leadership role, had tried his best to assure them it would all work out. None of them truly believed it.

Only, as it turned out, the Jedi were actually pretty nice people. They seemed to care about the troops and did their best to keep them alive and happy and healthy. There were a few that were friendlier than others, but it was a massive improvement over Kamino. And, once General Ti had shown up, the treatment of the clones rapidly improved.

Though, he wasn’t sure if she knew how bad it was before her involvement or if the Kaminoans knew they could no longer get away with some of the shit they had before.

Still, Fox was so happy for his brothers. He was happy they got to escape the scrutiny of Kamino by being on the front lines with Jedi that truly seemed to care about them and their well-being. And thank god for that. Wolffe would have probably gotten himself executed if his authority issues had been allowed to fester any further. Fox knew the front lines weren’t all sunshine and roses. He knew that death was constant and sometimes it felt like the war was truly meaningless. But he still envied his brothers so much.

He envied them because while they got to escape, he wasn’t so lucky.

Instead of being under the watchful, emotionless eyes of the Kaminoans, he was now under the watchful, hateful eyes of Chancellor Palpatine and a ton of senators who viewed his life with the same level of disdain they’d view a slug.

Palpatine was the worst, though.

He loved to make Fox’s life a living hell. Fox knew a lot of people in the galaxy didn’t exactly see him or his brothers as sentient creatures or humans, but Palpatine seemed to take it a step further. He reveled in doing so. He used and abused troopers worse than some droids were treated. And, because the Coruscant Guard was within reach and largely left alone by the Jedi council, they were his victims.

Fox was certain that Palpatine knew this. Which was why he never laid a hand on any other trooper.

Do you think Fucking Skywalker would turn a blind eye if Rex showed up to work one day all black and blue? Do you think Palpatine would really risk getting on General Koon’s bad side just for the chance to torture Wolffe?

Hell, no.

He knew he could get away with hurting the Coruscant Guard, so that’s what he did.

When he was angry, he took it out on them.

When he was frustrated, he took it out on them.

When he was bored, he took it out on them.

Fox had overheard some civilians talk about how grandfatherly and kind Palpatine seemed. He nearly bit his tongue off to stop himself from commenting. He wanted to run up to the Jedi and scream, ‘This man is a monster! Do something!’. He wanted to drag evidence of his abuse in front of the whole senate and ask, ‘Why is this man your leader? Do you not see how evil he is?’.

He did none of that.

Fox was not naïve. He had not survived Palpatine’s wrath by making assumptions and reacting to things emotionally.

The Jedi may claim that they liked their clones. His brothers might breathe a sigh of relief that they were treated as living creatures instead of commodities now. But Fox knew better. The risks of exposing Palpatine were too high. The Jedi might be colder than they initially appeared. After all, when you live in hell for a decade even the slightest bit of kindness might seem like heaven.

They might not believe him.

Worse yet, they might deem him unfit for duty and execute him. Because no clone could ever retire. Not really. You fought until you died. And, if for whatever reason you could no longer fight but also weren’t dead, the GAR would take care of that and wipe you off the map. Discretely, of course.

So, Fox bit his tongue, lowered his head, and directed most of Palpatine’s abuse his way. No reason for his troops to suffer any more than they had to. Besides, the younger troopers hadn’t been subjected to nearly the level of torment Fox had. He could handle it. He wasn’t so sure his younger brothers could.

And usually, it was pretty manageable.

Usually.

The past few weeks had been an exception. An especially bad period where more than once Fox feared Palpatine would take it too far and end his life. He had heard Jonda had joined the Republic. That should have been a happy day for Palpatine and put him in a good enough mood to lay off.

It didn’t.

If anything, it seemed to ignite his anger even more. He wondered why. Palpatine should be ecstatic such a powerful ally had joined him. But he wasn’t. Something was going on here.

Don’t look into it. Just put your head down and keep working. Looking into it will probably get you killed.

He pushed those thoughts away as quickly as they had come. Besides, he had more pressing issues to deal with.

Mainly his annoying brothers. Wolfe had stopped by his office to chat and didn’t leave until Fox tried to throw him out the window. Then, Cody kept bugging on the comms until he eventually just muted his chat entirely.

Then, Ponds came.

And Fox snapped.

He was having yet another bad day. He had just sat through a barrage of Chancellor Palpatine’s worst insults and was in no mood to entertain his brothers. Ponds, like Wolffe, had barged his way into his office, not listening to Sol and Archer’s pleas to leave him alone. He started rambling on about how Rex was possibly planning treason and Cody was probably okay with it and something about the holonet and that’s when it all snapped into place.

His brothers were the reason Palpatine had been so pissed off lately.

His brothers were the reason his days had gone from bad to worse.

The clones were supposed to occupy a very rigid and defined role in the Republic and his brothers were likely spitting in the face of that with no concern for how it affected clones that didn’t have Jedi to protect them.

He may have overreacted. He probably should have listened to Ponds so he could learn what exactly was going on. He didn’t. He was tired, overworked, and trying to keep his head and everyone else’s above water.

Normally, he didn’t blame his brothers for not knowing how badly the Corries were treated. They had their own issues to deal with and it wasn’t like they could help him anyways. But something about this situation made him angry. How dare they make his life harder! How dare they do something stupid without thinking about how it might affect him! How dare they get to escape the wrath of Palpatine and work for someone who actually cared about them leaving him all alone to deal with the fucking Senate!

So, yeah, he overreacted, kicked Ponds out of his office, and dug his heels in even more. He swore to himself that he would never interact with whatever had gotten Palpatine worked up into a shouting frenzy. If his brothers wanted to be idiots on the holonet, then count him out! He was not going to be a part of this.

Besides, things had calmed down and returned to normal. Fox was getting a record thirty minutes of sleep a day and Palpatine only occasionally abused him or his troops. Things were going well.

Until today.

Today, he was going to kill his brothers.

Just take a blaster and hunt them all down one by one.

He’d start with Rex because he seemed to be the center of all this.

Then he’d go after Cody because the man really should do a better job at keeping Rex in line.

Then Wolffe because Wolffe was often just as big of a problem as Cody and Rex.

He’d do a coin flip on Gree or Bacarra.

Then Gregor.

Then Ponds.

And he’d work his way down all the commanders until he ended with Wilco. Mostly because Wilco was the least disruptive out of all of them and maybe by then Fox would calm down and not kill him at all.

Or maybe he would because he was going to kill every non-Corrie clone CO he could get his hands on. He’d kill them all because standing in his office, wringing his hands, and looking nervous, was Fox’s least favorite person in the entire galaxy.

He’d rather have a tea party with Count Dooku.

He’d rather be roommates with Cad Bane.

Hell, he’d rather listen to Lama Su and Senator Burtoni list all the reasons why Fox wasn’t considered a sentient creature than spend one second with this man.

“Senator Orn Free Taa,” Fox gritted his teeth together so hard, he thought he heard them crack, “what can I do for you?”

No, seriously. Why the fuck are you in my office? This is a little below your station. Isn’t it? Not enough pretty women or riches here. Right?

Fox should be counting his blessings. At least he didn’t bring those two women that were always hanging off him. Something about them made Fox very uncomfortable. They were with Free Taa of their own free will. Right?

Orn Free Taa shifted on his feet, looking very uncomfortable and a bit afraid of being in Fox’s office. Good.

“Um, yes. I don’t know who else to ask. It’s a rather delicate situation. But, since you are a clone and are here all the time, I thought you would be the best person to talk to about this.” His foot shifted and sent an empty charger energy drink can skittering across the floor. The sudden noise caused Free Taa to jump.

Okay, something weird was going on here. That entire sentence that he just said, coupled with the fact that he seemed nervous, scared almost, made Fox very confused.

The only thing Fox’s sleep-deprived brain could come up with as a possible explanation (and he gagged just thinking about it) was that Free Taa had gotten himself romantically involved with a clone and was now trying to figure out what to do about it. It was a stretch, but also something he could see happening with his brothers.

Oh, dammit!

Was Wolffe the one behind this?

It had to be Wolffe.

Then again, he was pretty sure even Wolffe had standards.

Maybe Bacarra?

No, he also had standards.

Thorn, Stone, and Thire had all gathered at the door behind the senator, watching the conversation unfold with curious expressions painted across their faces.

Fox’s eyes twitched.

He would not curse out the senator.

He would not curse out the senator.

He would not curse out the senator.

Killing Wolffe was still on the table.

“I’m not sure how I might be of assistance to the honorable Ryloth senator. But, I will do my best.” He hoped the man caught the utter disdain dripping from his tongue.

Free Taa nodded and went to sit down in the chair across from Fox, kicking more energy drink cans and caf cups out of his way in the process. The man took one look at the chair, made a face, and decided he was better standing.

Oh, for fuck’s sake! The chair wasn’t dirty! He wasn’t going to get herpes sitting on it!

Fox was going to punch this man. He was actually going to punch out a senator. This was how he was going to get decommissioned.

He could take hours of horrific abuse by Palpatine’s hands and tongue, but he could not last ten seconds with Orn Free Taa. What a magnificent way to go.

Orn Free Taa took in a deep breath and smoothed his hands over the front of his robes in a nervous gesture. “Yes, well, you see, after the latest episode, my people have been clamoring to donate juja fruit to the frontline troops.”

“What?” Fox’s brow furrowed. He understood all those words separately. But together? That sentence made absolutely no sense.

“Oh!” Thorn snapped his fingers.

Orn Free Taa jumped, just now realizing they had an audience.

“Yeah, that makes sense. Waxer and Boil went off on one hell of a tangent about fresh juja fruit.”

Fox’s brow somehow managed to furrow even more. “What?”

“As I said,” Free Taa continued before Fox’s men could have a chance to explain what the hell was going on, “I do not know the best way to go about this. I tried to tell them I do not control the rations and I’m not sure how we would even get them to the frontlines. But they do not listen. They have started to get up in arms over it. I fear if I do not send at least some of the crops to a battalion, revolution is imminent.”

“What?”

Okay, piecing together what everyone had told him, Waxer and Boil had talked about fresh juja fruit and now the people of Ryloth were threatening to overthrow Free Taa if they didn’t get it.

Since when did the twi’leks care about Waxer and Boil of all people?

“What?”

Maybe if he repeated the question enough times, someone would finally answer him.

“Yes. What indeed.” Free Taa sighed dramatically. “Can you help me, commander?”

Help him? Fox wasn’t even sure what the problem was! Or why he had to be involved in it.

“Sir,” Stone stepped forward and brushed past Free Taa.

The man jumped back as if he had been burned before quickly inspecting his clothes for any indication they had been dirtied by Stone. Fox hoped he had gotten them dirty. He hoped Stone had stained that stupid silk or whatever the hell he was wearing.

“I think we need to have a conversation about ‘Creche to Command’.” Stone continued, pretending like Free Taa wasn’t even in the room.

“What?”

“Senator,” Thire stepped forward and directed Free Taa’s attention towards him. “If you would allow me to take you to my office while we get our Commander up to speed on what’s going on. I’m sure we can figure out some way to get your donations to the troops.”

He gestured for Free Taa to follow him. Which he did, albeit hesitantly; grimacing with every step as if the floors were covered in vomit and rats. Once he was gone, Stone handed him a datapad; a holonet site pulled up on the screen.

“You remember Ponds and Wolffe stopping by to talk to you?”

He nodded.

“This is what they wanted to talk to you about. Creche to Command. It started as a video series by Commander Tano of the 501st.”

Of course, the 501st was behind this. They couldn’t be normal and boring like Wilco’s battalion. They had to be the loudest, most obnoxious, wildest, and most uncontrollable battalion in the entire GAR.

“Wolffe also has a series showcasing the best moments of the GAR while in battle,” Thorn said. “Though the bastard never accepts our submissions. Says they aren’t ‘cool’ enough.” He scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“And I’m pretty sure people have started posting fan videos of Commander Cody after that special update,” Stone added.

“What does this have to do with the Ryloth Senator trying to donate fruit to me?” Fox said.

“It’s got a certain pull on people. This is how Bly got Jonda to join us,” Thorn explained. “And it’s very popular. I don’t have access to the backend stats but from what I hear, every padawan, most troopers, and almost every planet in the Republic has seen at least one video. There are even a few neutral systems where it’s pretty popular. Someone even mentioned a few views in separatist-controlled systems as well. Though those are unconfirmed. And this last episode they talked a lot about food.”

“Just… just watch it,” Stone said, pushing the datapad toward him. “Please, it’ll help with the context so much.”

Fox highly doubted it. Normally, he’d be content to ignore the problem and hope it went away. Except now he had Free Taa in his office trying to donate fruit to him and if it had already been used as a negotiation tactic once, then it was probably going to show up again and again and again. Besides, this was the 501st they were talking about. No way would they ever do something that would just quietly go away.

He might as well get it over with and see what the fuss was about.

He pressed play on the episode and hoped that this wouldn’t cause him too much of a headache.

Given that this was Skywalker’s battalion, that hope was probably in vain.

*****

Episode 6: The Mess Hall with Waxer and Boil!

Ahsoka sat in a bustling and thriving mess hall. The normal sea of blue was now speckled with gold-painted troopers, showing that the 212th was still spending time with the 501st. Next to Ahsoka were two unfamiliar troopers, their armor painted in gold. In front of her, was a pile of slop, barely distinguishable as food. Maybe it wasn’t! Who knows!

Despite the disgusting slop in front of her, she was the same as always; beaming and smiling at the camera.

“Hey, guys, today I have a very special treat for you. Instead of a member of the 501st joining us, I’ve got Waxer and Boil here from the 212th!”

“Hey guys,” Waxer said, waving. “Wooley was going to join us but he got caught up with the generals. So, we’re all you got.”

“Hello. You tiny little baby Jedi are finally going to see actual good troopers in action.”

Echo, who was sitting next to them, snorted.

“Got something to say, Echo?”

He rolled his eyes. “You think you’re better than we are?”

“We’re the best 212th has to offer,” Waxer said, proudly puffing up his chest.

“That’s sad then. I feel bad for commander Cody.”

Boil’s eyes narrowed. “You want to repeat that, vod? We all know what you do in your free time with that poor reg manual.”

“Come on guys. It’s been thirty seconds, please don’t fight,” Ahsoka groaned.

“Nar’sheb, besom,” Echo all but snarled. “Copaani mirshmure’cye, vod?”

“I’m just saying—”

“If you two get in a fight I’m not saving you from Cody and Rex’s wrath,” Ahsoka said. “In fact, I can make your punishments so much worse.”

“You wouldn’t,” Boil said.

Ahsoka crossed her arms and stared at them. “I would. And it’d be so easy. You know all I have to do is give Rex and Cody my best sad tooka expression and they’ll do whatever I want.”

“I swear she uses the Force to manipulate them,” Echo said.

“No Force. Just me.” She grinned, showing off several of her sharp teeth.

Lek, lek,” Waxer said. “You’re evil you know that?”

Ahsoka continued to grin.

“We promise not to fight with Echo, vod’ika.” He sighed.

“Thank you!” Ahsoka said brightly. She turned back to the camera. “As you can see, we’re in the mess hall today because we’re going to talk about food!”

“Ah yes, kai’tome,” Boil said. “Probably the most disgusting, unpalatable, tasteless osik in the galaxy.” He picked up a spoonful of slop. It slipped off his spoon and splattered back onto the tray. “Not much to look at. Is it?”

“Ha!” Jesse laughed, walking past them. “And that’s why no one in the 501st wanted to do the mess episode. Sooran, shab!” He continued to cackle as he walked past their little group.

“He’s laughing as if he doesn’t have a plate full of slop on his tray this very second,” Waxer muttered.

Boil gave Jesse a very rude gesture that was probably not appreciated by Captain Rex. Jesse seemed to pay no mind and continued to cackle as he walked to a table not far from them.

“Guys, come on. We don’t want to scare the shinies and padawans into not eating,” Ahsoka said.

“Eh, the shinies will be fine,” Waxer said. “This is about what we had access to on Kamino. I don’t think I tasted a spice until I was planetside. General Kenobi took some of us to Dex’s and I swear I nearly cried. I didn’t know food could taste so draluram.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t prepared for the heturam though. I think I started crying,” Boil added. “By the way, if you’re shiny, be careful what you eat when you first get off Kamino. I’ve seen more than one brother hugging a toilet because his stomach wasn’t used to actual food.”

“The rations are useful and nourishing which is why we need to eat them,” Ahsoka said, trying to keep them from complaining too much.

It was no use. Waxer and Boil were on a roll.

“Oh, you know what was an amazing food experience?” Waxer said. “Juja fruit.”

“Oh yeah, when we were on Ryloth!” Boil snapped his fingers. “Juja fruit is the best.”

“I’ve had juja fruit energy bars before,” Ahsoka said. “Oh, that’s a good point we should talk about. Ration bars are different from energy bars. Ration bars are one full meal packaged in a convenient bar. Energy bars are more about quick energy. A lot of sugar. If you’re a carnivore like me, you can’t eat too many.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Waxer waved a dismissive hand at her. “Trust me, vod’ika, no one actually cares about the difference. But Juja fruit… man, those bars do not do the fresh stuff justice. They pop in your mouth and it’s like a geyser of juice.”

“When we were on Ryloth, I think I ate myself sick with all that fruit. They have so many different varieties too,” Boil continued.

Ahsoka seemed to realize that she wasn’t going to talk much about the mess hall and decided to let Waxer and Boil continue their rambles.

“Actually,” Boil said, snapping his fingers, “if I have any advice related to food it’d be that. Try the local cuisine. It’s a great way to try all sorts of different flavors and see what else is out there.”

“Right. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad meal with the locals. Though, that might just be because any food is better than the rations they serve in the mess.”

“Eh, Geonosis wasn’t that great,” Boil shrugged.

“You guys ate the food there?” Ahsoka wrinkled her nose.

“Yeah. A lot of bugs. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but they didn’t season it with anything. Juja fruit, though. Fuck, I would sell my right arm to get some fresh ones to eat.”

“I know what you mean,” Waxer said. “I dream about that stuff at night. I keep looking for it at markets and stuff like that, but it must not be very popular on other planets. Which is a real shame because I think everyone is missing out.”

“What about you? Any food experiences you remember fondly?” Boil asked.

“Hmm, that’s hard,” Ahsoka said, tapping her chin. “I do like hunting with the troopers when we get a chance.”

“Hunting?” Waxer’s brow furrowed.

Ahsoka nodded. “Yeah! Whenever we’re planetside and not getting shot at, I like to take some time to hunt. I used to go alone. But Rex and Anakin were worried I was going to get mauled by a wild animal and so now I take a small group of troopers with me. I don’t need it, though! I’m a good enough hunter.”

“The things she did to that lizard with just her teeth.” Echo shuddered with a haunted expression on his face.

“Oh, don’t complain. You liked the fact that we had fresh meat for a few days.”

“How do you decide who hunts with you?” Boil asked.

Ahsoka shrugged. “Sometimes it’s volunteers. Sometimes it’s punishment. Sometimes it is shiny hazing. Hey! Next time we’re planetside together, you guys should totally come with me!”

“Um… we’ll think about it,” Waxer said, rubbing the back of his neck. “If Commander Cody allows it.”

“If Commander Cody allows what?” A voice said from above.

All of them turned to see Commander Cody standing behind them. Looking most unamused.

“Hey, Commander. We weren’t doing anything,” Waxer said.

Cody’s eyes narrowed. “Somehow I doubt that.”

“No, they weren’t,” Ahoska assured him. “I was inviting them to go hunting with me next time.”

“Hunting? You mean Rex wasn’t making that up?”

“Oh, but, while you’re here,” Ahsoka continued as if she didn’t hear his comment, “got any advice for the initiates and shinies about food?”

Cody studied her for a second and then sighed and said, “Alright, if you want a piece of advice, how about this? If you’re non-human talk to your medic about the rations you need. They’re designed with human calories and macro-nutrient breakdowns in mind so if you need something different, you need to know what to ask the quartermaster for.”

“I didn’t talk to Kix when I first got here,” Ahsoka said, furrowing her brow.

“I know,” Cody deadpanned. “Which is why I had to suffer through a panicked call at three in the morning when Rex and Kix realized that you needed different rations and they were worried they were killing you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry Rex,” Ahsoka called. “I didn’t think about it.”

“It’s okay. We got that figured out now,” Rex called back.

Ahsoka turned back to Cody. “Thanks for the reminder. That’s… actually good advice.”

Cody’s eyes narrowed. “Did you think I wouldn’t give good advice?”

“No, I did. It’s just normally it’s ‘here’s how to punch a droid’ or ‘here’s how to cheat at Sabacc’. Kix was really the only one that gave practical advice.”

“That’s because Kix is the only one in this company with a brain,” Cody grumbled.

“Oi!”

“Oh, please, Rex. You know the only reason you have impulse control is because no one else in your company does. The second you’re with me, you become worse than Fives.”

“Really?” Fives perked up.

Echo elbowed him. “Don’t get any ideas.”

“Echo’s got impulse control,” Ahsoka said.

Cody studied him for a moment. Echo surprisingly did not shrink under his gaze.

Then, Cody clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Nope. No, he does not. He just has the reg manual memorized so he knows all the loopholes. Means you have to watch him more.”

Echo sighed and slumped down, not even bothering to argue.

“Well, if you’re done with the video, I need Waxer and Boil for something. Come on.”

“Yes, sir,” Boil said. He turned to back to the camera. “Juja fruit. If you ever come across the fresh stuff, try it.”

“Yup. Can’t recommend it enough,” Waxer added.

*****

Fox’s eye twitched as the video finished.

This was what had pissed off Palpatine so badly? This was what caused him to fly off the handle for nearly a week? This is what got Rex to consider treason? This was what Cody and Wolffe and Ponds had been bothering him about for the past month?

This thing?

This stupid little holonet series?

Did he fall through a wormhole and into an alternate universe where a holonet series was more powerful than any politician?

“Um, sir?” Stone said hesitantly. “Are you okay?”

No.

No, he was not.

Still, it was clear he could no longer ignore the problem. He was dealing with this, whether he liked it or not.

He let out a long-suffering sigh and pinched his brow. “Let me get this straight. This one video is causing Ryloth to threaten a rebellion if Free Taa doesn’t give me fruit?”

Thorn shrugged. “Like I said before, it’s popular. Tano is charismatic. I think it has less to do with this single video and more to do with the series as a whole. People are seeing us as, well, people now. And they’re starting to demand for us to have better treatment.”

Damn. That was a good thing. He shouldn’t be angry about that. But he could already see what little sleep he got slipping away. He’d watch the rest of the videos later. For now, he had another issue to deal with.

He buried his face in his hands and groaned. “Is Free Taa gone yet?”

“No, sir. He’s still waiting for you.”

He groaned some more.

“Kill me. Just kill me now.”

“We’re not going to kill you, sir,” Stone said.

There was a knock at the door. No! No more work! No more surprises!

“Sir,” Archer said, he and Sol standing awkwardly at the door, “there are about ten senators that all want to talk to you. I think it’s about food.”

Fox was amazed that one sentence didn’t break him. He was amazed this one situation didn’t cause him to snap and launch a coup because he was close. He was so fucking close.

He groaned and stood up. “Fine. Bring them all to the debriefing room. Free Taa included. I don’t know what they want me to do about it. I’m not the one that runs the ration distribution for the GAR.”

Archer and Sol saluted and then ran off to gather up the senators.

“It’s because you’re the most accessible,” Thorn said. “They can stop by and talk to you whenever.”

“Can we ban them?

“No, sir. Sorry, sir.” Stone did not sound the least bit sorry. “Though, I wouldn’t mind some better food. How is it that we’re on Coruscant but we still have rations like we’re traveling through hyperspace for weeks on end?”

“Cheaper to feed us rations than to feed us fresh stuff,” Thorn said.

They entered the debriefing room where a handful of senators were gathered, talking amongst themselves. He only hated a few of the people in the room. So that was good. He decided to sit as far away from Free Taa as possible.

As soon as he took his seat, the senators all quieted down and looked at him.

For a beat, no one spoke.

“Sir, I think you need to run this meeting,” Thire whispered to him.

Him? Why him? He was just a clone. They’re the ones that sought him out. They’re the ones that had food to give. They were the ones with all the authority here. He was a disposable weapon!

Their eyes seemed to bore into him as they waited for him to speak.

Damn. It looked like he was expected to run the meeting. This was fine. He could do this. These people had sought him out. So long as he didn’t say or do anything to offend them, he wouldn’t be marked for decommissioning.

Easier said than done.

He cleared his throat. “Senators, I understand you would like to donate food to the troops.”

“Yes, our people saw the Creche to Command Episode and would like the troops to try their own delicacies. My people’s food is much better than that of Ryloth’s,” a senator spat.

Oh good. They were insulting each other. Fox hated politicians.

“It’s not a competition. We eat tasteless rations for the most part. Any flavor is good flavor.” Fox groaned. The headache he had just managed to chase away was returning.

He was surprised it took it this long.

“I’m sure the troops will appreciate whatever you give them,” he continued. He kept his words and tone even and neutral. A trick he learned to keep tempers from rising and conflict from happening.

“I am also worried about Ahsoka Tano,” the Torgrutan senator from Shili said. “it is important for adolescent torgrutans to hunt often. Otherwise, their jaws grow weak. She mentioned she hunted in the video, but how often?”

Fox swallowed down what he actually wanted to say and instead plastered on a tight smile. “I’m sure she’s hunting plenty.”

“And the meat. She is eating enough meat, correct? I know you humans need to eat less of it.”

“She’s really not my problem—” Nope. No. Diplomatic and neutral. No snappy comments. No sharp jabs. He let out a breath and plastered on a smile once more. “Yes, sir. The 501st is ensuring she gets enough meat.”

The Shili senator nodded. “Still, I would like to donate some live rats for her to practice hunting while on the ship.”

“I can do that!” Fox answered before the words were fully out of the senator’s mouth.

“Um, really?” Thire asked. “Won’t a bunch of live rats running around the ship be an issue?”

Fox glared at him. If Rex wanted to contemplate treason and make Fox’s life more difficult, then he could deal with a few rats running around the ship.

His exclamation seemed to put the senators at ease as they started listing exactly what they wanted to donate. Fox had so many other things he needed to do, but he couldn’t very well leave to go do his actual job. Besides, it was kind of nice working with some senators to improve the lives of his brothers instead of simply reacting to whatever asinine bill they passed that made their lives worse.

It took about two hours of work, but in the end, Fox felt confident he had set the senators up with enough contacts within the GAR to get their donations where they needed to go. But, it was only a temporary solution. If this ‘Creche to Command’ thing really was as popular as his men suggested, then more senators were going to be coming to donate food. More videos would be posted to influence policy and the state of the galaxy. And more weeks would go by facing Palpatine’s wrath. He needed a better way to handle this.

He folded his hands and thought through his options just like in a battle. Who were his allies? Who were his enemies? What resources did he have? What was the goal?

He did come up with a plan of attack fairly quickly and got to work executing it. It might not work, but it was a place to start.

*****

Padme sighed and sank back in her chair, utterly exhausted.

She managed to shoot Riyo a tired smile. “I think that about does it for today. Until the vote happens tomorrow, there’s nothing else we can do.”

Riyo matched her position and slumped back in her chair. She tipped her head back and closed her eyes. “I’m drained. I don’t think I’ve slept all week. Even in bed I just sit there and run through everything I have to do, tossing and turning until I give up and start working again.”

Padme chucked and allowed herself to revel in this brief moment of respite. Unless there was a pressing emergency that needed to be dealt with immediately, she allowed herself to the night before every vote to relax. She couldn’t wait to go home and take a nice long bath, eat dinner at the table with no distractions, and then get to bed at a reasonable hour. No matter the outcome tomorrow, whether it was in her favor or not, it didn’t matter. She had done everything she could.

There was still so much work to do. A part of her screamed to pick up a datapad and continue to be productive; to get a jumpstart on upcoming issues. She didn’t listen to that voice. There was a time she’d work non-stop. She’d tell herself that she could rest when things calmed down. But that was the trick. Things never calmed down. If she didn’t give herself a chance to rest, then she would never find it and work herself into an early grave.

Which was why tonight there would be no more talk of policy or politics or the state of the world. Only discussions on things that don’t require her to think.

“Has the intern poll closed yet?” she asked.

Riyo smiled. “Not yet.”

“It’s been going on for weeks now. You’d think everyone who wanted to vote would have voted already.”

“Yes, but after Waxer, Boil, and Commander Cody’s introductions, people would like a chance to reconsider.”

“Oh? Who’s winning?”

“Well, it was neck and neck between Jesse and Echo last time I checked. But, now that Commander Cody has entered the polls, there might be an upset. A bit surprising in my opinion.”

Padme chuckled. “Not really. He had an entire love poem written about him. A bit of an unfair advantage in the polls if you ask me. I’ll have to let Anakin and Obi-Wan know. I’m sure this will boost morale.”

“Or cause more fights?” Riyo asked, opening her eyes and grinning at Padme with a playful spark.

They both knew that as much as the troopers bickered with one another, both on camera and off, it was usually all in good fun. Anyone who knew the troopers knew that they would die for their brothers without question.

There was a knock at the door and one of Padme’s guards entered. She and Riyo shared a look. They didn’t usually bother her unless something had happened. But he didn’t seem anxious or in a hurry to remove them from the building.

“Is everything alright?” She asked, trying to listen for screams or smell the scent of smoke. Anything that would indicate they were under attack.

Of course, an attack wouldn’t make her guards act this confused. “Commander Fox of the Coruscant Guard would like to speak with you.” He said this almost as if it were a question. As if he himself couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth.

“Commander Fox is here?” Riyo squeaked. This got her wide away as she sat upright and turned to a mirror. She started frantically fussing with her hair. “Oh, I wish he had come earlier in the day when I didn’t look like a zombie. I haven’t changed my clothes in ages! Or showered! Oh, I look like wreck.”

Padme found her infatuation with the clone commander to be rather cute. It reminded her of how she felt about Anakin when they were first together. Her constantly fussing with her appearance and worried that one hair out of place would make him find her unattractive. It was perhaps the only time in her life she had cared that much about what another person thought of how she looked.

That all changed after she had gotten caught up with a bounty hunter hired to kill her. She took him out, obviously. But, in the process, lost one of her shoes, rolled down a hill, got sticks stuck in her hair, and then landed in a mud puddle. At the end of that long day, she didn’t care what Anakin thought about her. All she wanted to do was get a shower and go to bed.

He still looked at her as if she had hung the stars.

She stopped fussing after that.

Commander Fox was a bit of a different story, however. She wasn’t sure if Fox had any romantic feelings toward Riyo. Actually, come to think of it, she wasn’t sure if Fox had any feelings about Riyo, romantic or otherwise. She wasn’t even sure he knew what species she was.

Maybe she should do something about that. For now, though, she could help her friend with this one thing.

“You look fine, Riyo. Besides, he has probably worked a twenty-hour shift and looks just as tired as you. If not more.”

Riyo stopped the frantic smoothing of her hair and frowned. “Yet another bill we should pass. Limitations on how long troopers can work.”

“I’ll add it to the list.” She turned back to the guard. “We are free to meet with him now.”

“Of course, ma’am.” He bowed to her and then swept out of the room.

“Why do you think he wants to meet us?” Riyo asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe someone has put a hit out on us?”

“There are always hits out on you,” Commander Fox said as he stepped into the room.

Riyo’s cheeks immediately darkened when she saw him.

“Today I believe Senator Amidala has five and Senator Chuchi has two. Rather low numbers, which is good.” He continued.

Padme and Riyo shared a worried look. The fact he could say that so casually disturbed her.

Commander Fox seemed to pick up on this. He cleared his throat and hastily added, “We’re handling it. Don’t worry.”

“Right.” She felt like she should very much be worried about that, but decided that if Commander Fox said he was handling it, then he was handling it. “If it’s not about hits, then why did you wish to meet with us.”

At this, Commander Fox’s straight-back and assertive posture shifted to one that was not as confident. It was as if he didn’t know how his next words were going to be received and were thinking them over carefully before he spoke.

Padme and Riyo waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts.

“Well, you see, I have recently run into a problem and I think you might be the only ones willing to listen and help me,” he said.

“Of course, commander. We will do whatever we can to help,” Riyo said. The blush had not gone away, but she was doing a good job of hiding her obvious love for the commander.

“Thank you.” He relaxed a bit; put at ease by Riyo’s words. “Have either of you heard of ‘Creche to Command’?”

Padme’s brow furrowed. Whatever she thought Commander Fox was going to say, it wasn’t that. And now she was even more confused than when the conversation had started. Which was saying something considering she was confused the moment her guard stepped into the room.

She did know about Creche to Command. Anakin had shared it with her as soon as he had found out about it. He was proud of Ahsoka for her work and was desperate to show it off to anyone who would listen. Padme hadn’t watched every episode, but she caught a few here and there, just to keep up on it. Overall, she found it to be a relatively harmless, innocent series. Of course, that did change when Palpatine tried to take it over.

She understood why. It clearly had a pull on people and could influence alliances. Something like that could be dangerous in the wrong hands. But Ahsoka wasn’t the wrong hands. She was a child trying to help out other children. Other than the Jonda incident, and an ongoing ‘who is the hottest trooper’ intern poll, nothing of note had happened.

“Yes, we know about it,” she said.

“Good. That saves me some explanation.” Commander Fox breathed a sigh of relief. “It appears that after the last episode, citizens would like to donate food to the troops. Apparently, Ryloth is threatening an uprising if Orn Free Taa doesn’t comply. Though, that might be less to do with the food and more to do with the fact that Syndulla doesn’t respect him. Still, because I happen to be the most accessible clone in the GAR, senators have been coming to me to try and distribute food to the troops. The only problem is that is not my job. And I also would rather listen to General Grievous’ smoker’s cough for thirty hours straight than sit through another meeting with Orn Free Taa.” He practically spat the last words out.

“Where do we come in?” Riyo asked.

Commander Fox pulled out a data pad. “A bill. Something small that would standardize how food donations to the troops can be handled. Completely voluntary. No one has to participate. But this way, if you have food you’d like to donate, you don’t have to bother me about it. I’ve already drafted one, but since I’m not a senator, I can’t bring it to the floor. Which is where you come in. You put your name on it, make any changes you’d like, and debate it.”

“You wrote a bill?” Padme asked, blinking with shock.

Commander Fox hesitated. “Yes, well. I’m not certain it’s any good. But I figured the more work I did the less you had to do.”

“I’m sure it’s fine.” She smiled at him and took the datapad from his hands. “I would be honored to take this on, commander,” she said sincerely.

“Thank you,” Commander Fox sounded sincere. He was acting like Padme had just offered to take on all his work for the rest of the time.

“I can’t promise anything, but sometimes it’s less important to get a bill passed and more important to get a conversation started.”

“I understand. And thank you both again for your help.”

“Of course,” Riyo said. “We’re your representatives as much as we are the rest of the citizens of the Republic.”

Once more, Commander Fox looked taken aback by her admission. As if it hadn’t occurred to him that he had a right to representation. That had to change. These men should not be dying for the Republic without a say in their own government. The list of things Padme had to do was long and ever-growing, but it would never shrink. If she wanted troopers to have representation, she’d have to make it a priority. Starting tomorrow, she would.

Before, she was content with letting Riyo tackle most of the clone-related issues. But having Commander Fox in her office, asking her for help, she could no longer ignore it or let someone else tackle it. She would still let Riyo lead the charge, but she would also take a more active role.

Padme may not like the war. She might want the war to end as soon as possible, but that should not be at the expense of these men’s lives. They were dying to protect her freedom. The least she could do was help make their existence better.

“That was all I needed. Thank you again for your help.” He stepped out of the room, leaving them once more in silence.

Padme would have liked to ask him to stay for longer. This was their chance to see just what the troopers needed and maybe bring more than a food donation bill to the Senate floor, but she let him go. He seemed exhausted and needed his rest. Besides, she had a bill to review.

“It’s actually not bad,” She said, scrolling through it. “A few tweaks could be made. But, all in all, I’ve seen worse get proposed to the Senate Floor.”

“Hopefully the public pressure makes it so that it’s easily passed,” Riyo said.

“I’m sure we can use that to bolster our support.” She sent the bill to Mothma and Organa to review. “We’ll make this public and make sure people know about it. That way senators are shamed into voting for it.”

“I don’t anticipate it to be a very hard fight,” Riyo said, looking through it as well. “As drafted here, it requires very little from the senators themselves. I don’t even think anything would change.”

“You never know who could see this as a threat to the status quo. We should watch who opposes it and why. If they oppose something as innocent as this bill, I worry what they would do to more influential policies.”

“Indeed.” Riyo smiled at her. “Looks like our work for the night isn’t finished after all.”

“Yes, but I don’t mind spending a few extra hours on something so important.”

They settled back in their chairs and got to work making some adjustments.

Maybe Palpatine had a right to be worried about Creche to Command. It was already influencing politics. She had thought Jonda was a one-off occurrence. Something that only happened because the stars aligned. Now, she wasn’t so sure. What else could this series change? What else could it influence?

She filed those thoughts away for now. It was nothing to act on yet. Just something to watch and observe.

*****

CommanderWolffe: And that is the difference between a fan cam and a fan edit.

CommanderCody: Okay. So, let me get this straight. Because Fives said that awful love confession to me and it got posted on the karking holonet, I now have fan cams AND fan edits?

CommanderStone: You’re also winning the Senate Intern ‘Who is the Hottest Trooper’ poll. Poor Jesse is going to be crushed. He was in the lead before you showed up.

CommanderBly: I didn’t think the confession was awful at all.

CommanderGree: I want to know why Cody gets all the fan edits. Where’s my horde of adoring fans?

CommanderWolffe: No one knows you exist, Gree.

CommanderGree: Maybe I’ll make my own.

CommanderWolffe: No. That’s not a fan edit. That’s desperation

CommanderGregor: I thought that was called a thirst trap.

CommanderCody: What’s a thirst trap?

CommanderBly: All those shirtless pics Wolffe keeps tossing out there.

CommanderWolffe: People need to see this amazing body. There aren’t many out there like it.

CommanderCody: We all have the same body.

CommanderWolffe: And yet mine is slightly better.

CommanderFox: WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU GUYS DO?

CommanderWolffe: Oh, hey look who’s no longer ignoring us. Long time no see Foxy.

CommanderStone: Hey, Commander. Did you figure out what to do about Free Taa yet?

CommanderFox: WHY THE FUCK IS THERE A HOLONET SERIES THAT IS AFFECTING POLICY? WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU PEOPLE BEEN DOING THE PAST FEW MONTHS?

CommanderGregor: Do you think he’s shouting or do you think he can’t figure out how to turn off caps lock?

CommanderWolffe: Ponds and I both tried to tell you about this. Don’t get snippy with us. You’re the one that tried to throw me out a window for talking to you.

CommanderFox: I HAVE HAD TO DEAL WITH MORE SENATORS IN THE PAST WEEK THAN I HAVE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH INFLUENCE THIS SERIES HAS? WHAT DID YOU DO?

CommanderCody: Wolffe, you want to take this one? I got to go spar with the general.

CommanderFox: CODY DON’T YOU DARE! GET BACK HERE YOU PIECE OF SHIT! IT’S YOUR TROOPS THAT STARTED THIS!

CommanderWolffe: Calm down before you give yourself a stroke. @CommanderStone when’s the last time he slept?

CommanderStone: Bout a week ago.

CommanderBly: Someone needs to tranq him.

CommanderStone: We can’t. He built up a resistance to them.

CommanderFox: SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE BEFORE I START ARRESTING EVERYONE!

CommanderWolffe: Alright. Alright. Basically, Ahsoka started the series to help the younglings at the temple get more acquainted with their roles as commanders in the GAR. Long story short, Bly used it to successfully negotiate Jonda’s alliance with the Republic and Palpatine views it as a threat to his power. Helpful?

CommanderFox: THAT IS NOT HELPFUL! THERE ARE A LOT OF PARTS TO THAT STORY YOU LEFT OUT! HOW DOES IT GO FROM COMMANDER TANO HELPING JEDI TO RYLOTH THREATENING REBELLION IF ORN FREE TAA DOESN’T DONATE JUJA FRUIT?

CommanderGree: Very slowly, my friend.

CommnaderGregor: What can I say? Tano’s got a way with words.

CommanderStone: Sir, please just relax. It’s not hurting anyone.

CommnaderFox: I HAD TO SIT WITH FREE TAA FOR THIRTY MINUTES TODAY! IT’S HURTING ME!

CommanderWolffe: He’s so dramatic. Welp, I got to go. Enjoy stewing in your rage Foxy.

CommanderGregor: I should go too.

CommanderGree: Me too. I want to spend some time with Barriss.

CommanderFox: NO GET BACK HERE! I’M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU PEOPLE YET!

CommnaderBly: We’ll talk tomorrow Fox. Have a nice night.

CommanderFox: I hate all of them.

CommanderStone: I know sir.

*****

CaptainRex: WHY THE FUCK DID WE GET A SHIPMENT OF LIVE RATS WITH OUR RATIONS!?!?!?

CommanderFox: Donation from Shili, vod. Enjoy.

Chapter Text

The second Master Krell stepped onto the ship, Ahsoka had a bad feeling about him. Or, not really a bad feeling, more like a general unease that he was here on the ship and around the troopers. She couldn’t place her finger on it, though.

He seemed gruff and aloof, but that wasn’t uncommon for Jedi. After all, Master Windu wasn’t exactly a walking ball of sunshine and fuzzy feelings. The sentences he spoke were quick and to the point. He didn’t linger. He didn’t make small talk. He didn’t do anything that would suggest he was up to something.

But Ahsoka still didn’t like him. She caught herself craning her neck to watch as he swept down the hallway. When she spotted him speaking to master Obi-Wan later, she stopped by the door to listen in on the conversation. She didn’t actually care what it was about. She just wanted some piece of evidence that would explain why she didn’t trust him.

She found nothing. There was nothing to suggest he was a bad person. She tried to explain away her feelings as ‘after-battle’ jitters. She was too hopped up on adrenaline and needed some time to cool down. Only, they hadn’t fought a battle in several rotations. The trip through hyperspace had been almost pleasant. Picking up Master Krell had been uneventful. She shouldn’t be this alert.

Rex once told her that when humans get a bad feeling, the hairs on the back of their necks stood on end. A concept that freaked her out to no end. Torgrutas didn’t have hair so she had nothing to stand on end. But she did have teeth. Sharp teeth. Teeth that would bare themselves whenever she was threatened. A lip that curled and peeled back to show off sizeable incisors. And growling. She wanted to growl at Krell. Not a playful growl she sometimes emitted when sparring with the boys. But a proper, predatory, warning growl.

Thankfully, she had yet to growl or snarl at Master Krell. That probably wouldn’t reflect very well on Master Obi-Wan or Anakin, even if the latter would likely find it amusing.

Something about Master Krell rubbed her the wrong way.

The only problem? She had no solid proof. All she had was a feeling. A desire to bare her teeth and give him a warning growl. A twisting sensation in her gut that kept her up at night until she finally gave in and wandered around the barracks to make sure the troopers were all right. An overwhelming desire to take to the vents and stalk him, ready to pounce the moment he stepped out of line.

Finally, she got so sick of this feeling she brought it up to Anakin. Tactfully, of course. Just because she wanted to rip his throat out with her teeth didn’t mean she was a slave to her instincts.

“Master, how much do you know about Master Krell?” she asked one day while he tinkered around with the Twilight. Always best to bring up sensitive topics when he was working on a piece of machinery. That was when he was in the best mood.

“Not much. Why?”

Ahsoka bit her lip and looked around the busy bay, though it was much quieter than usual. The troopers weren’t making loud jokes to even chatting with each other. It was like they were robots, mechanically going about their duties as they were programmed to do.

“The troopers seem… different, now that he’s around. It’s the only thing that’s changed so I thought maybe he had something to do with it.”

“Hmm, could be. They’re probably less comfortable with an unknown Jedi aboard, snips. I don’t know how much Rex and Cody have told you about their training on Kamino, but apparently, it was pretty intense. Doesn’t help that they had a Mandalorian in charge of it all. Some… stories about the Jedi got passed around and from what I’ve heard, a lot of the gen ones thought Jedi were going to be these emotionless monsters.”

“But we’re not,” Ahsoka exclaimed.

Anakin finally slid out from underneath the ship to look at her directly. “I know. I’d like to think most Jedi are pretty nice. But it’s hard to undo nearly a decade's worth of that sort of programming. They don’t know Master Krell well and he’s got no other troops assigned to him so they can’t get a good idea of what he’s like. They’re being cautious.”

Ahsoka crossed her arms and glared at the ground as if it were the thing offending her. “I don’t like it.”

Anakin put a hand on her shoulder. “I know. But it’s only for a week and then they’ll be back to their old selves. I hear Master Krell is probably going to get a battalion soon. Maybe that will help him open up to the troops and vice versa. I’m sure it’s nothing. If it was something, Cody or Rex would come to us. Okay?”

She nodded but didn’t feel convinced. It felt like it went deeper than unfamiliarity. Her normally rambunctious brothers had all dialed back their personalities. Even Hardcase was less hyperactive than normal. She didn’t think that was possible! And it went deeper than shifts in personality, too. Instead of loitering in the halls or mess, the troopers had all but fled back to their barracks when they weren’t on duty. Most of them had taken to wearing their helmets when walking around the ship. Especially those with visible tattoos or hairstyles that went against the reg manual. It was as if all their defining traits, all their personalities, were drained from them.

She had never viewed her brothers as clones before now. They were too different to be mistaken as one giant mass. But with Krell on board, they might as well be everything the anti-clone groups said and more. All the exact same person.

And she wasn’t sure she bought Anakin’s theory that they were just nervous around a new Jedi. They had never seemed nervous around her. Maybe that was because she didn’t seem like a commander given her age and the fact that she was much shorter than all of them.

“Anything else, snips?”

She sighed and shook her head. “No, master. That’s all.”

Anakin looked like he wanted to say something but then thought otherwise. “If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure. Thanks.” She hopped off the crate and shuffled out of the bay. She hated how quiet the ship was now. Hawk should be recounting some of his more daring (and overexaggerated) feats of flight right now. Fives should be crashing into her as he tried to run away from an irate Rex. Hardcase should be bouncing off the walls! The 501st and 212th should be engaging in friendly sparring matches complete with shouting and jeering and cheering! The ship should feel alive and thrumming with the light side of the Force.

Instead, it felt like an empty tomb.

She wrapped her arms around her midsection and continued to wander aimlessly through the ship.

“I’m overreacting. Skyguy is right. It’s nothing. They’re cautious about having an unknown superior officer on board, that’s all. Cody and Rex would tell us if something was wrong.”

She heard shouts echo off the walls. Her hearing was much better than a human's so she wasn’t surprised when no one else seemed to hear it but her. She bit her lip and looked around, wondering if she should go get Master Obi-Wan or Anakin.

They didn’t sound like shouts of pain. They sounded like angry shouts. Maybe two troopers had gotten into an argument.

She took off down the hall, walking quickly towards her destination. The more she walked, the less busy the ship got. They were in a much less often traveled cargo section of the ship. Usually, only droids were down here.

“Guess they wanted some privacy,” Ahsoka muttered to herself. Which, if it was an argument, made sense.

Should she really be busting in on something someone so obviously wanted to keep private? She tried not to use the Force or her enhanced senses to spy on anyone. If this was between two troopers, she should let them sort it out themselves.

Except, the closer she got, the more she realized that wasn’t a trooper’s voice she was hearing. It could only belong to one person, and one person alone.

She rounded the corner to see Master Krell berating a poor shiny who had just gotten his name, Colt. For several seconds she did nothing but watch as Krell continued his tirade against him. Colt looked like he was about to cry, standing in a stiff pose and keeping his eyes straight forward, not watching Krell as he bellowed and shouted about whatever had gotten his robes in a twist.

Should she intervene? She was a padawan and it wasn’t really her place to scold a master Jedi. Should she go get Master Obi-Wan or Anakin? Did Colt want her to get Master Obi-Wan or Anakin? Was this even worth their time? What if Colt did deserve this barrage of insults? What if he had done something truly egregious and Master Krell, in a moment of weakness, had let his frustrations get the better of him?

She was frozen in place, her entire body tense. Another part of her wanted to turn on her heels and hide, to pretend like she never saw anything.

What should she do?

What if whatever she did made things worse?

What if she was overreacting?

Padawans did not berate masters. That had never stopped her before with Anakin, but that was different. She knew what buttons she could press and what was off-limits. Same with Master Kenobi. She didn’t know anything about Master Krell.

Finally, Master Krell made the decision for her and finally finished his tirade. “Get out of my sight, CT-6012,” he practically snarled. “I’m through with you.”

Colt gave him a shaky salute and scampered off.

That made up her mind for her. She was going to say something. It wasn’t right to call a trooper by their number, especially when they had a name. No matter what Colt had done to warrant Krell’s wrath he did not deserve to be treated as nothing more than an emotionless droid.

Krell spotted her and looked briefly taken aback. He hadn’t noticed her before.

“Padawan Tano, can I help you with something?” The way his voice shifted gave her whiplash. He still sounded cold and distant, but it was much more controlled than before. If she hadn’t just witnessed him shouting, she would have never believed he was capable of it.

She swallowed and almost said ‘no’. She didn’t. These were her brothers and she was going to ensure they got the respect they deserved.

She didn’t have to get Master Obi-Wan or Anakin for this. She could deal with it herself. Master Krell just didn’t know the etiquette. He didn’t know how important a trooper’s name was. He didn’t have men of his own. He wasn’t used to interacting with soldiers.

She took a deep breath and collected herself. She would not react with anger. She would not match temper for temper. She’d be like Master Obi-Wan, a cool calm in a tumultuous storm.

“I wanted to talk to you about something, Master Krell,” she said, careful to keep her voice light but neutral. She needed to be patient and empathetic with him. Like her master was with her. It was kind of thrilling, being in this position. Teaching instead of being taught.

She walked up to him and let the Force guide her. Let it radiate calming energy and light. “I know you don’t have any troopers of your own,” she started, “but it is impolite to refer to them by their numbers. You should use their names if you know them. And, if you don’t, you can always just use ‘trooper’.”

She smiled at him. Krell did not smile back.

“I don’t know what Colt did, but using his number was unnecessary. What did he do, by the way? If it was bad, maybe we should talk to An—I mean Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi about it. Mistakes are inevitable, but we can’t correct what we don’t know.”

“I’ve already handled it,” he said, turning and sweeping down the hall.

Ahsoka blinked a few times, her mind trying to comprehend what had just happened. He had just dismissed her! Completely ignored her concerns about the names and walked off!

She ran up to him. “I know you’ve handled it, but it’s still good to let the other masters know just in case this is a pattern. And you should also apologize to him for using his number.”

He stopped and turned to her.

Ahsoka didn’t have hairs on the back of her neck, but at that moment, she swore they stood on end.

“I beg your pardon?” His voice was barely above a whisper, but there was something dangerous about it. Something that told Ahsoka to back off.

She almost apologized and excused herself.

She forced herself to stand tall and look him in the eyes instead. These were her brothers she was talking about! Men who would give their lives for her in an instant. Men who had adopted her as one of their own. Protected her as one of their own. Taught her to fight and live as one of their own. They loved her and she loved them back. What kind of vod left the others to the mercy of an outsider? How could she ever spend time with them again, how could she ever let them treat her as one of them again, if she didn’t stand up for them?

She didn’t care what Colt did. She didn’t care if he was insubordinate. She didn’t care if he cursed out Krell and flipped him off. No one deserved to be referred to as a number instead of a name.

She tilted her chin in defiance. “You need to apologize to Colt. He has a name. You need to use it. And there was no reason for you to speak to him the way you did. So also apologize for that. Your anger is uncalled for, master.”

Krell towered over her, his shadow encompassed her. He had excellent mental shields so she couldn’t tell exactly what he was feeling, but you didn’t need to be a Jedi to know he was angry.

“They were given numbers, not names. I am referring to CT-6012 by his official designation. That is respect.”

“It’s dehumanizing!” Her voice was rising. The control she had over her temper was wavering. She could feel it flaring around the edges like fire, causing her voice to sharpen and her teeth to gnash together. “It is disrespectful no matter what you think.”

“What would you know of respect, child?” His voice wasn’t rising.

That made her all the angrier. She clenched her hands into fists until her knuckles were white. “I know your version is archaic and not actually about respect. You have no right to call yourself a Jedi Master if that’s how you’re going to treat people.” She snapped before she could stop herself.

Something in the air shifted. In the blink of an eye, Master Krell grabbed her forearm and yanked her towards him. She let out a small cry as she stumbled forward. He had towered above her before. But now it truly felt like he was taller than anything she had ever seen. She had to practically bend backward to look him in the eyes. And the hand on her arm was locked in an iron grip. Squeezing it. Crushing it in his fist. It hurt. Distantly she was aware that it hurt, but she could barely comprehend the pain as her mind went blank. Only one phrase ran through her head. Repeating itself over and over and over again.

What was she supposed to do?

What was she supposed to do?

Master Unduli had grabbed her once when Ahsoka had threatened Nute Gunray. But even that hadn’t hurt. She had kept her hand loose on Ahsoka’s bicep as she pulled her out of the room. It was a guiding gesture, sharp but controlled.

This wasn’t controlled.

He didn’t seem to care how tightly he was squeezing or how much it hurt.

She was scared.

What was she supposed to do?

How was she supposed to react?

“I am not about to be lectured by you, padawan,” Krell spat. “The clones were given numbers, not names. I will refer to them as such and you will not be disrespectful toward me or undermine my authority. Do I make myself clear?”

Ahsoka couldn’t bring herself to say anything. Her heart pounded so hard against her ribcage that she thought it would shatter. Her entire body felt like jelly. She couldn’t decide if she was supposed to fight back or accept the punishment.

What was she supposed to do?

“Commander Tano,” an even voice said to her right.

Both she and Krell looked over to see Cody standing there. His helmet was on his head, making his normally stoic expressions even less readable.

“General Skywalker requests your presence immediately.” His was still even. Unwavering. Solid. Unsurprised by the position Ahsoka and Krell were in. It was as if this was perfectly normal. Something that happened every day.

What’s more, he didn’t feel anything. There was a passive level of neutrality that flowed through his emotions and mind like cool water running through a babbling brook. It was the kind of neutrality that betrayed no emotion. He didn’t feel angry, upset, scared, or anything. He was simply present in the situation. Observing, but not reacting.

Krell narrowed his eyes and studied him. Cody did not falter under his gaze. His emotions felt soothing to Ahsoka’s own troubled mind.

He must be shielding, but also projecting calm. Ahsoka realized. Shielding his true emotions while projecting more pleasant emotions to those around him. Master Obi-Wan must have taught him. That was a very difficult skill to master and only came through a lot of dedicated practice. Even Ahsoka had trouble shielding her stronger emotions and could only radiate calm if she was feeling calm. If she had stumbled into a situation like this, she doubted she’d have the same level of control Cody had right now.

Finally, Krell dropped her arm. “Best move along, padawan. It’s disrespectful to keep your master waiting.”

She gripped her throbbing wrist and made her way over to Cody. She looked back at Krell, expecting him to be glaring at her or something. But, he seemed to be through with their conversation and turned to walk in the opposite direction.

“Come along, sir,” Cody said. He turned and started walking. Even and steady. Still feeling as calm and collected as ever.

Ahsoka struggled to keep up. Her legs wouldn’t stop shaking and she wanted to do nothing more than run and hide. How was she supposed to face Anakin like this? He’d know something was wrong and then he’d get angry. She had had enough anger for the day. Besides, she didn’t know if she wanted him to know about this. She felt ashamed of everything that had happened. She had tried to help Colt out but instead made everything a thousand times worse. Why didn’t she just keep out of it and wait for Krell to leave? Why did she have to get involved?

She glanced up at Cody, expecting him to say something about what he had just witnessed. He didn’t.

A few hallways later, he put a hand on her shoulders and took off his helmet. The gesture served two purposes: to comfort her and to keep her from running off.

She furrowed her brow when she realized where they were heading. “Anakin’s in the barracks?” she asked softly. Everything running through her mind screamed to make herself as small and unnoticeable as possible. She didn’t even like speaking out loud. But Cody’s silence was also killing her.

“Hmm? No, he’s not.”

“Then why are we going to the barracks?”

“He’s not looking for you. I figured it was the best excuse to get you away from Krell without questions.”

His words were calm and respectful enough, but the fact that he said “Krell” and not “General Krell” spoke volumes. She didn’t think she had ever heard Cody call someone just by their last name. He was very close with Master Obi-Wan and even then had never called him by his last name. Cody didn’t respect Krell and he was not happy about what he had witnessed.

She swallowed and let him continue to lead her through the quiet, empty halls of the ship. She wanted to tell him that she was fine, duck under his arm, and scamper off, but the hand on her shoulder sent a clear message. Follow me. I want to talk to you.

That also made her nervous. She hadn’t spent as much time around Cody as she had with Rex or anyone else in the 501st. That made sense. They were completely different battalions that weren’t always together. She liked him well enough. He was level-headed, good at helping her with strategies, and willing to teach her how to be a better commander when he had the time. Rex trusted him as well. Actually, it went deeper than that. Sometimes, she got the feeling that the relationship between Rex and Cody was similar to the relationship between her and Rex. Deeper than friendship. She had heard Rex call him ori’vod on multiple occasions. Big brother.

Maybe trooper relationships were like Jedi relationships. If Anakin was her master, and Obi-Wan was her grand master, did that mean Rex was her ori’vod and Cody was her… ori’ori’vod? Ba’ori’vod? Mando’a didn’t really have a word for that.

Still, even if Cody was some sort of grand-older brother that Rex trusted with his life, she didn’t know how to act around him. Master Obi-Wan had taught him well (better than Anakin though that might be less a reflection on Master Obi-Wan’s teachings and more a reflection on Anakin’s personality). Cody was very good at keeping himself very neutral. He was difficult to read and she was never fully sure where she stood with him.

Did he view her as some annoying kid that got in the way? An equal? A younger sibling that needed to be protected? All of the above?

It was hard to say. Which was why she did not like the idea of having to talk about what had just happened. She knew how Anakin and Rex would react. She knew how Fives and Echo and Hardcase would react. She knew how Jesse and Kix would react. She even had a good idea of how Master Obi-Wan would react. Other than Master Obi-Wan, she could see the others all getting very angry and confronting Krell. Except for maybe Kix, who would just poison him and get away with it. But Cody was a different story. Would he fly off the handle? Would he keep control of his emotions just long enough for her to think he was okay only to later find out he had cut off Krell’s head? Did he even care what had happened to her or was she only hoping he did because she was scared and didn’t know what else to do?

What if he blamed her for getting Krell all worked up?

He directed her to the room he and Rex shared whenever they were together. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Rex wasn’t in there. That was one less angry older brother she had to worry about.

“Sheber.” Cody said, gently pushing her towards a chair.

She sat down without a fight while Cody pulled over a chair of his own.

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees so they were almost eye-to-eye. “Gar kadala?”

She swallowed and rubbed her wrist. She hadn’t stopped since Krell had let go. “No, I’m fine.”

Cody quirked a brow and glanced down at her arm. “So, if I take off your vambrace, that’s not going to be bruised?

Ahsoka shook her head. “No, it’s not. He just surprised me, that’s all.” For some reason, it didn’t sound like the words were coming out of her mouth.

“I don’t need to get Helix to come scan you?” He said, a playful undertone in his voice.

She rolled her eyes and relaxed a bit. “Helix isn’t my medic.”

“I can get Kix here in an instant too. Don’t underestimate my power.”

“I don’t think it’s your power. I think all the medics just like to scan people so they have an excuse to poke them with needles.”

Cody laughed softly. “Maybe.”

When he didn’t keep speaking, she forced herself to break the silence. “I’m fine, Cody. Really. He surprised me. That’s all. I’m not used to being grabbed like that. And I wasn’t expecting to get so angry.”

There was a crack in Cody’s shields; big enough that she could feel just how furious he was. He smoothed it over quickly, returning back to a steady, neutral support system.

“You don’t have to worry about it,” she quickly added, desperate to not make the situation any worse than she already had. “It was my fault anyways. I lost my temper.”

Cody frowned. “I have a hard time believing you did anything worth getting handled so roughly.”

“No, really. I shouldn’t have pushed him so hard.” She had already made this entire situation into a bigger mess. She didn’t need to make it worse. If she could just convince Cody that she was fine, then she could put this all behind her and avoid Krell for the rest of the week like the rest of her brothers.

Her blood turned to ice in her veins.

Had the rest of her brothers gone through something similar? Is that why they were all hiding in their barracks and doing their best to not get Krell’s attention?

No. No, that couldn’t be. They’d have told her if something like that had happened. Krell probably yelled at them, but he couldn’t have grabbed any of them.

Right/

Cody continued to frown, studying her, trying to find any hint of deception. He seemed to give up and sighed. “Fine, then. What set Krell off?”

She hesitated. She wanted to say it was nothing. But, if she said that, Cody might think that Krell overreacted for no reason and then he really would get Anakin and Master Obi-Wan involved. But she didn’t want to tell him the whole truth either. He’d be disappointed in her. She wasn’t always the best at keeping her frustrations under control and this time she really lost it. She wasn’t in the mood for another lecture.

“Ner vod’ika,” He said softly. He took her hand in his and pulled it away from her forearm to stop her almost obsessive rubbing. “Gar atin. If you don’t talk to me, I have no problem calling any number of people to help me out. Jesse’s a great interrogator when he wants to be.” He smiled at her, gentle but prodding.

Her shoulders slumped and she accepted her fate.

“He called Colt by his number, but not his name. And yelled at him a bit.”

“Did he grab Colt?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No. And I don’t think he knew I was there.” She didn’t know why she felt the need to add that last part. But she felt like it was important. Like it gave more context to the problem.

“Then what happened?”

“I thought it was a mistake. He doesn’t have troopers so he wouldn’t know it’s rude. But he just kept insisting and then I may have insulted him and one thing led to another and… well, you saw where we ended up.” She stared at the floor, not wanting to look Cody in the eyes. She wished he had less control over his shields. Maybe then she could tell if he was annoyed or not.

She heard him shift and then saw in her peripheral vision him kneeling on the ground, right in front of her. He kept ahold of her hand and let his free one come up to her cheek.

“Vor entye,” he said softly. “But you don’t have to defend us. Especially not from him.”

“You guys have names. He should use them. Especially since he knew Colt’s number. That’s even more insulting. But, I also shouldn’t have lost my temper and yelled at him. If I hadn’t escalated the situation, maybe he wouldn’t have gotten so angry.” She finished, still not looking up at Cody.

“I wasn’t there for the whole thing so I can’t say for sure, but he shouldn’t have grabbed you. And as for the name thing, we survived years on Kamino being referred to by our numbers. One week with Krell won’t hurt.”

“It’s not right though.”

“Vod’ika, look at me please.”

She finally looked him in the eyes. She didn’t see disappointment or anger in his expression. Only understanding.

“You’re already doing so much to help others see us as humans, but no matter what you do, there are always going to be people out there who don’t understand. And who doesn’t want to understand.”

“He’s a Jedi. He’s supposed to respect all life. And that includes you. Especially you.”

“I know you Jedi are big on the light side and dark side and all that, but real life is more complicated. There are shades of grey. People aren’t all good or all bad, even a Jedi.”

“But—”

“But nothing.” He smiled at her and she felt herself relaxing more and more. “Krell isn’t worth your time. Kaysh mirsh chkaaryc. Ori’buce, kih’kovid. Sometimes we have to let some battles go if we want to focus on winning the war. Krell will be gone in less than a week. We can survive being called by your numbers by then.”

“It’s not right, though. I don’t even think I know you’re number. CT—”

“CC-2224,” Cody said; his tone light and teasing. “You really should know it. It’s faster to get information or contact me through an official channel if you know my number. Please tell me you at least know Rex’s?”

She shook her head.

“Jesse’s?”

She shook her head.

“What am I going to do with you?” He still didn’t sound angry.

“I know Fives’ number,” she grumbled.

“That’s because his is easy to remember.” He reached behind him and pulled out a datapad. “I’m sending you some official designations from the 501st. I’ll also add in a few commanders as well. If you can’t get in contact with me or anyone in the 501st, you can always get in contact with them. Fox, Thorn, Stone, and Thire are all on Coruscant so they should be your first point of contact if you’re ever there. Keep an eye on battalions in and around your campaigns as well in case you need someone to come quick.”

It took her a while before she realized this was his way of changing the conversation, of directing her focus away from the number thing and into another lesson on how to be a good commander. How was he so good at this? Was it all Master Obi-Wan’s influence or was this just what Cody was like?

She wasn’t about to let the conversation shift that easily. He was right. She was stubborn. “You can’t be okay with getting called by your number. Even for a week.”

“I’m not,” he said lightly, dropping his hands and sitting back on the chair. “But I can handle it for a week. We all can. If the worst thing that happens to us on this campaign is getting called by our numbers for a week, then it will be a very good campaign. Alright, if you’re really okay and you promise not to pick any more fights with Krell, you can go. I think Fives, Echo, and Jesse are hiding out in their barracks. They’d love to spend some time with you. But please, for the love of the Maker, do not play any more Sabacc with them. I do not need another love confession.”

She stifled a laugh and stood up. He was done with this conversation and she didn’t think talking about it anymore would change anything. Besides, she was done talking about it as well. She just wanted to spend some time with the people she cared about and forget this whole thing ever happened.

Before she left, though, she turned back to him. “You’re really okay?”

Cody laughed. “I’m okay. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Alright. Thanks for your help.” She almost said ba’ori’vod but changed her mind at the last minute. “Cody.”

She hadn’t even called Rex ori’vod out loud yet and still wasn’t fully sure how Cody felt about her. His shielding was too good.

“Any time, kid.”

She left the room, still feeling unsatisfied with everything. She briefly thought about going to talk to Anakin about what had happened but decided not to. This was an overreaction on her part. There was no need to escalate this any further.

As she walked to where Fives, Jesse, and Echo were holed up, she rubbed her wrist absentmindedly.

*****

Cody stayed sitting at the desk for a long time after Ahsoka left. Fingers laced together. His face twisted into a scowl. She was probably far enough away or being bombarded by whatever strong emotions Fives was feeling at the moment. He could probably relax. All this shielding nonsense was exhausting.

He waited a few minutes longer. He didn’t want to let his shields slip just yet.

He didn’t want to scare Ahsoka. He didn’t want General Kenobi or General Skywalker to sense his anger and come running. If they demanded answers, Cody would tell them everything. And Force help the man who dared hurt Skywalker’s padawan. They would never find the body.

Unlacing his fingers, he started drumming them on the desk instead. His mind raced with thoughts as he argued and second-guessed himself. Had he made the right choice letting Ahsoka walk out of here without demanding she go speak to the generals? Was he making the right choice now by not going to speak with them himself? She looked so scared and small when he stumbled upon them. Smaller than she had ever looked before.

More scared than she had ever looked before.

This was a girl who had stepped off some cargo ship in the middle of one of the hardest battles Cody had ever had the displeasure of being a part of and immediately jumped into action. Even after the battle, she traded war stories like she were one of the boys.

Ahsoka Tano was not supposed to look scared.

She was not supposed to look small.

But was this enough to cause a fuss? Was this enough to potentially slander a general? A commanding officer? One he was supposed to obey without question?

On Kamino they were trained, had it practically beaten into them, not to question orders. Their generals and admirals knew best. If they said jump, you didn’t even ask how high. You just did it. Everything they did was to be accepted without question. Every order they gave was to be followed without hesitation.

Krell was his superior officer.

He was a Jedi.

A general.

Maybe not Cody’s assigned general but a general nonetheless. It was not Cody’s place to question his methods or his handling of Ahsoka’s insults and temper. And boy did that girl have a temper. But he could never imagine General Kenobi or General Skywalker doing such a thing. He couldn’t even picture what it would look like to have General Kenobi grab her and tower over her like Krell had. It was like a mental block that stopped him from even entertaining the possibility.

Then again, maybe General Kenobi and Skywalker were not the norm when it came to Jedi and Padawan interactions. He already knew Skywalker defied many of the more traditional Jedi conventions. Maybe such harsh treatment was the norm. Maybe he just happened to have an especially even-tempered general who chose to solve issues with tea and meditation.

The thought alone left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He could not imagine the hell Gree would raise if he ever saw General Unduli treating Commander Offree the way Krell had treated Ahsoka. Then again, he couldn’t picture General Unduli treating Commander Offree that way at all. Come to think of it, he couldn’t imagine any generals acting the way Krell had acted.

Not General Yoda, or General Windu, or General Secura, or any of them. He hadn’t met every Jedi, but the ones he did meet tended to be kind.

But, it was not his place to question Krell. He was a soldier. A clone. Krell was a Jedi. A general. Cody was supposed to accept everything he did without question or fight.

A sick and twisted part of his mind wished Krell had actually hurt Ahsoka. Then he’d be able to make a decision. Then he’d be able to go to General Kenobi.

Maybe.

Come to think of it, he wasn’t so sure. How much injury was too much injury?

And if what Ahsoka said was true (and he was inclined to believe it was), then why was her well-being so much more important than Colt’s? Why was he willing to risk going against his programming to show Krell’s cruelty towards the clones when Ahsoka was injured, but not Colt?

Because she’s a Jedi so her life is worth more than Colt’s.

Was it, though?

Yes.

Ahsoka didn’t seem to think so.

Ahsoka is an anomaly.

He groaned and buried his face in his hands. Of course, Ahsoka’s life mattered more than his or Colt’s or anyone else’s. He was a clone. He was born to die in the war. So it made sense that Krell’s treatment of her raised more red flags than his treatment of other troopers.

He still wished that Krell had hurt her. Or that he had assaulted (No, no. He didn’t assault. He just grabbed her. Nothing as bad as assault.) Colt. If he had grabbed Colt, then that was an established pattern of behavior Cody could point to. Right now, all he had were petty complaints that sounded like a pouting child.

General Krell calls us by our numbers and not our names.

General Krell expects us to actually be in uniform and follow the reg manual and not have any visible tattoos and a standard issue haircut.

General Krell doesn’t talk to us in a friendly tone of voice.

Fuck, he had gone soft since leaving Kamino. There was a time when an instructor could beat him until he lost consciousness. Then, he’d wake up with a stim to the neck and be ordered to get back to training. Afterward, when his brothers all crowded around and asked if he was okay, he’d give them a bloody grin and make some smart-ass comment about how 99 packed more of a punch than the instructor. Then he and Wolffe (though he was going by Wolf at the time) would compare their missing teeth or the sizes of bruises like they were battle scars.

There was a time when hearing his number was commonplace and actually a sign of respect, instead of just being called ‘clone’.

There was a time when Krell would have been seen as heaven-sent because, though he might not be a fuzzy ball of sunshine, at least he wasn’t torturing the troopers.

There was a time when he could take everything the universe threw at him with a cocky grin.

He had grown soft since being with General Kenobi. He had grown used to his name getting used. He had grown used to being treated like a human being and not a droid. He had gotten used to his life mattering.

Krell was what they had expected to serve back on Kamino.

He needed to toughen up and relearn how to take on the chin.

It was hard going back to that place. He didn’t know if he could.

The use of the numbers bothered him. It bothered him a lot.

When they were cadets before any of them had ever left Kamino. Before any of them had seen dust or a Jedi Cruiser or anything other than those sterile white halls, names were a dream. A few of the more rebellious cadets had chosen names.

Wolffe was one of them. He was also one of the first to try and insist they call him by a name, not a number. The Kaminoans didn’t like that. They sent him to be “punished”. After he came back, he didn’t make any more demands to be called by his chosen name. When Cody asked about it later, he just gave him a bloody, cocky grin and said ”I added another f and an e. That way, it’s not even spelled right.” And that was the end of that conversation. He referred to Wolffe as Wolffe in his head, or sometimes at night when no one else was around to hear. Whispered to each other like it was some great secret.

Cody had also chosen his name early on. Unlike Wolffe, he wanted a nat-born name. One that you might find on any old planet. Nice and proper. Normal. He couldn’t remember where he had heard the name ‘Cody’, but he liked it. And he settled on it. And that was that.

Rex was still in his Cody is the greatest or’ivod ever so I’m going to do everything he does phase (a phase Cody sadly missed given how reckless and wild his vod’ika ended up becoming) and followed suit. His name came from a story one of the nicer trainers had read them one time. Some action hero that Rex hoped to be when he got older. And probably the first sign that he wasn’t as rule-abiding as Cody.

Gree didn’t choose his name until after leaving Kamino. And, while he would never admit this, he only chose it because he panicked when General Unduli asked him what his name was. A glorious failure Cody got to see first-hand.

”And what is your name?” she asked.

“Name? CC-1004 stuttered.

“Yes. I do not wish to call you CC-1004. It is rather a mouthful. I heard from Master Koon that some of his troopers prefer to be called by names. Do you have one?”

Cody could see CC-1004’s eyes go wide and his mouth went slack as his mind scrambled to come up with a name on the spot. Cody rolled his eyes. He could just say he didn’t have a name. General Unduli didn’t seem like she would mind.

“Gree?” he choked out.

Cody had to shove his fist in his mouth to keep from laughing.

General Unduli cocked her head to the side. “Like the planet? Or like the species?”

“Both?” he choked out again.

Oh, Cody was definitely going to be telling the others about this later. He’d never let Gree live it down.

Gree, the idiot, decided that instead of just shutting up and moving on, he would dig his grave deeper. “I’m a big fan of squids. Love em. Can’t get enough of them.”

If General Unduli found any of this strange, she didn’t let on. “I see then. Commander Gree, I look forward to working with you.”

Of course, General Kenobi learning his name hadn’t gone much smoother. To be fair, he was the first nat-born other than the Kaminoans and trainers that he had met. And he was his commanding officer at that. Cody had been drilled for years that there was a proper way commanders and generals needed to interact. Keep your salutes quick and sharp. Only speak when spoken to. Follow orders. Do not question them.

He was so focused on not making a mistake, he didn’t even hesitate when General Kenobi asked him what his name was. After all, the general asked a question. He needed it answered immediately.

”Cody, sir.” He said, still not dropping the salute. He hadn’t been told he could yet.

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, his eyes widened. No one but Rex and a few of the other commanders knew his name. It was too dangerous. Hell, he couldn’t even remember the last time someone had spoken it out loud. It was more of a silent acknowledgment. What would the general do when he found out Cody was not adhering to his number? That he dared try and distinguish himself from his brothers? He was going to get decommissioned for sure. Barely a week off of Kamino and he was already fucking up.

General Kenobi frowned. “Cody? That’s a nice name. Commander Cody. Has a nice ring to it. Anyways, Commander Cody, how do I get you to stop doing that?”

“Doing what, sir?” he asked, not daring to look the general in the eyes in case it was all a trap.

“Saluting. How do I get you to stop saluting me? It’s weird. You’ve been holding that pose for five minutes now. Isn’t your arm tired?”

It wasn’t. He had once held a salute for nearly thirty minutes as punishment. He could go another ten before he started to feel it.

“No, sir. And you can tell me ‘at ease’ if you’d like me to stop, sir.”

“Alright then, at ease. And how do I stop you from calling me ‘sir’ at the end of every sentence? It’s a bit weird.”

Cody dropped his arm and finally decided to risk looking toward him. “Um… I don’t know, sir. No one’s ever asked me to not call them sir… sir.”

General Kenobi sighed. “Well, you don’t have to call me sir at the end of every sentence. I’d actually prefer it if you don’t.”

“Very well, sir.” He couldn’t help it. It felt weird not to tack that on to the end.

General Kenobi rolled his eyes. “We’ll work on that. Do other troopers have names or just you?”

“I don’t know, sir,” Cody said, lying through his teeth. At the time, he didn’t know how the other generals would treat his brothers. And the last thing he wanted to was to reveal that most of them had names picked out.

General Kenobi sighed again. “We’re going to have to work on your shielding. I can read every thought that crosses your mind.”

Cody’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “Sorry, sir. Yes, many of my brothers have chosen names. But I don’t know them all, sir,” he said.

“That wasn’t what I was referring to.” He studied him for a moment, expression unreadable. “There will be time for that later, Commander Cody. For now, let’s put your troops to the test. We have a battle to win.”

The names had been one of the first pieces of evidence that the Jedi saw them as more than clones. They saw them as people. And, from what he could tell, every Jedi used names whenever possible.

Every Jedi except Krell.

Which brought Cody back to the problem at hand. Was he being weak? Had serving under General Kenobi stripped him of his training? Of his ability to not let the dehumanization get to him?

The image of him grabbing Ahsoka once more cause danger to flare up in his veins. He may not be as close to her as the rest of the 501st, but she was still his vod’ika. He’d be just as angry if he had walked in on Krell treating Waxer or Boil or Rex that way. Hell, Krell was damn lucky it wasn’t Rex that stumbled on him in the first place. He would have been dead before his body hit the floor. And, if Krell was willing to assault Ahsoka so openly in the hallways when anyone could stumble upon them, what was he willing to do to the rest of his brothers? What was he willing to do behind closed doors? What was he willing to do to troopers that didn’t have their generals onboard watching their backs?

He cursed and massaged his brow, another headache forming as his thoughts waged war against each other. Good soldiers follow orders. Good soldiers do not question their generals. Good soldiers are disposable weapons that can be replaced at a moment’s notice.

Cody was a good soldier.

But was being a good soldier the same as being a good brother?

The door hissed open. He looked up to see Rex.

“Hey, vod, everything okay?” he asked upon seeing Cody hunched over the desk, massaging his brow.

“Headache,” Cody grunted.

“Want me to get Helix or Cas?”

“No, it’s not that bad,” he sighed, dropping his hand.

Rex studied him for a moment.

“Vod, I swear you do not have a leg to stand on when it comes to avoiding medics. I’ll be fine.”

Rex sighed and stepped fully into the room. “Fine. I won’t press. I saw Ahsoka heading to Fives’ and the others’ bunks. She looked upset. Did you see her at all?”

He swallowed down the truth. Cody may be a good soldier, but Rex was not. And he was not willing to let his brother get decommissioned over someone as insignificant as Krell. But, at the same time, if Rex didn’t get answers now, he’d go looking. It was better for Cody to give him a partial truth to control the situation than let him discover what had actually happened on his own.

“I did see her and I spoke to her.”

“And?”

“She doesn’t like that Krell calls us by our numbers and not our names.”

“Ah. So she noticed that.”

He nodded.

“To be fair, I don’t like that he calls us by our numbers. Who does he think he is?”

“A Jedi and a general,” Cody reminded him. “Rex, please tell me you are not looking for a reason to pick a fight with him. I already had to use every trick in the book to get Ahsoka to back off. I don’t want to worry about you too.”

Rex deflated. “No, I’m not. It’s just… after being with General Skywalker for so long, I forgot what it felt like to not be treated like a person.” He sat down heavily in the chair Ahsoka had vacated not long ago. “Is this all we’re good for? Numbers instead of names? No one remembering us after we die? Just a faceless trooper that followed orders without question?”

“You’re having a lot of dark thoughts because of someone as inconsequential as Krell,” Cody replied.

Rex shrugged. “I feel like I should say something to the generals. Something about this feels wrong. But what would I even say? Krell isn’t as nice to me as some other people? He uses my number instead of my name? What kind of complaints are those, Cody?”

“Pointless ones,” Cody said. “Especially since we’re kicking him out of the ship in a few days.”

“Can it be literally? Just right out the airlock?”

He chuckled. “I don’t think the Jedi would be too happy about that. I know it’s hard, vod, but deal with it a little while longer. We’ve survived worse.”

Rex nodded but was clearly not happy with Cody’s words.

Cody wasn’t happy with his words either. He wasn’t happy with this whole situation, but he also didn’t know what to do about it. He was a good soldier. And, at the end of the day, Krell hadn’t done anything worth making a big fuss over.

*****

Episode 7: Names with Tup and Wooley

Two new troopers accompanied Ahsoka this time. She was smiling like always, but there was a darkness in her eyes. Anger that seemed out of character.

“Hi guys, today I’m here with Tup from the 501st and Wooley from the 212th.”

The two troopers waved to the camera.

“Today, we’re going to talk about one of the most important aspects of trooper culture, the names.”

“Yeah, I’m so glad I missed the mess hall episode,” Wooley said. “This is way better than talking about food. Names are so special to us.”

“And a lot of them come with very unique backstories,” Tup added. “You can really tell a lot about a trooper from their name and how they got it.”

“Though, I did hear you hunt whenever you’re planetside, sir,” he said, looking to Ahsoka.

“Yeah! Want to come with?” She flashed her sharp teeth.

Wooley shuddered and shook his head. “Um, no. I think I’m good.”

“Your loss,” she shrugged.

They were silent for a few seconds. Ahsoka stared right into the camera, smiling. Tup and Wooley exchanged confused glances.

“Um… sir, you gonna say anything?” Tup whispered.

Ahsoka jumped and looked at him. “Oh, I guess I can. Usually, by this point, someone has started an argument so I was just kind of waiting for you guys to get it out of your system.”

Wooley glanced at tup, brow raised in confusion. “I guess we could argue about something if you’d like.”

They stared at each other for another beat then sighed and looked away.

“I got nothing.”

“Yeah, me neither.”

“Then I guess we can get started,” Ahsoka said. “All troopers are assigned a number. But it’s considered very rude to use their number if they have a name. Some might even say disrespectful! Dehumanizing! Maybe even downright abusive.” She grinned, flashing her teeth. It didn’t feel like a friendly grin. It felt like a threat.

Tup and Wooley glanced at each other once more.

“Um… sir, are you okay?” Tup asked.

“Fine, Tup! I’m super fine! I’m just letting the audience know that if you know a trooper’s name, use their name!” For some reason, most watchers could swear Ahsoka had silently added or I will hunt you down and do what I did to that lizard that scarred Echo for life to the end. This was mostly speculation though.

“Right,” Wooley said cautiously. “Um, so, yes, names. Now, some troopers will have picked their names when they’re cadets. Others don’t pick their names until much later, after a battle or two.”

“Names can be anything,” Tup added. “They can be normal names you might hear a nat-born called, personality traits, physical characteristics, inside jokes, or even just words you really like. There’s no hard and fast rule as to what a name can be and that allows troopers to get really creative.”

Ahsoka nodded. “Like Echo got his name because he’d always ‘echo’ the reg manual or orders.”

“And Broadside got his name because when he was a cadet, he couldn’t ‘hit the broadside of a barn’.” Wooley added. “I got my name because my hair’s pretty curly. Like sheep’s wool. So my batchmates started calling me Wooley. It’s one of the reasons I usually keep it pretty shaved down.”

“Oh, I wish it was longer so I could feel it,” Ahsoka said, looking mournfully at Wooley’s shaved head.

“Um… what?” He did a double-take before looking at Tup.

Tup just shrugged and said, “Yeah, she’s got this weird thing about feeling different peoples’ hair.”

“I don’t have hair so I want to know what hair feels like! Like, Rex’s head is so fuzzy. And Tup’s is really silky! But why is your face hair pricklier than your head hair?”

Wooley bit back a laugh.

Tup rolled his eyes playfully. “That’s just how it grows, kid.”

“I’m trying to convince Fives to grow out his face hair because I want to know what it feels like when it’s longer.”

“He’s not down with that?”

She shook her head.

“Well, I guess if you’re a trooper out there who wouldn’t mind your beard getting pet like a loth cat, hit up the 501st,” Tup said.

“Anyways, back to the names. Sometimes you’re given a name by your brothers. Other times you choose it. It kind of depends on the situation,” Wooley said.

“There’s a whole process that most people go through, but not everyone.” Tup continued. “You start by working through a couple of names that you like in your head. You try them out, call yourself them internally, and see what sticks and what doesn’t. Then you might tell your batch mates or a few of your closest brothers a name that you like. They’ll usually start calling you the name in private. That way you can see how it feels and if you want to change it. Once you feel comfortable, you go to your commanding officer and tell them your name. They’ll update the registry so people can see who is where.”

“It’s all unofficial,” Wooley said. “Technically, our numbers are our official designation. We don’t have to have or use names.”

“But again, if someone has a name, use it,” Ahsoka said, once more putting on a warning smile.

“Right,” Tup continued. “Another important thing to remember is that if you get assigned to a battalion that already has a trooper using your name, it’s best practice to choose a different name. Especially if the trooper in question is older.”

“We already look the same,” Wooley said. “We don’t need the same names too.”

“Yep! Anything else you guys want to talk about?” Ahsoka asked.

“Well,” Tup said, “a lot of the gen one troopers are very weird about their names. I’m pretty sure all of them have one, but sometimes they won’t tell you what it is. Some of their commanding officers don’t even know them.”

“Really? Why not?” Ahsoka asked.

“I heard from Commander Cody that the Kaminoans used to heavily discourage the use of names. So, they were very private. You only told them to a handful of your closest vode and they were not to be repeated to anyone else. Sometimes. You’d have entire squads that didn’t know each other’s names.” Wooley explained.

“That sounds awful,” Ahsoka said.

“It makes sense,” Tup said. “The more people that know about it, the more likely the Kaminoans and instructor were to find out. And then you’d get punished. And, let’s face it, out of all the hills to die on, giving yourself a name is not one the gen ones cared about.”

“They’re okay with the names now, though. Right?” Ahsoka asked.

“I’m not sure if ‘okay’ is the right word,” Wooley said. “More like they know they can’t stamp it out so they just accept it.”

“Yeah,” Tup quickly changed the subject. “Another thing, we don’t really use nicknames. You might if you’re very close to a brother, but that is rare. When in doubt, use the full name and never assume you can use a nickname unless explicitly told you can.”

“Sometimes you might get away with adding ’ika to the end of a name,” Wooley added. “It’s another nod to the Mandalorian culture. Again, use with caution.”

“Oh yeah, Wolffe calls me Sok’ika all the time.”

“Aw, that’s so cute!” Tup beamed. “Maybe I should start calling you that.”

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. “You can if you’d like.”

He pulled her into a hug. “You got it, Sok’ika”

“But I get to call you Tup’ika too.”

“I don’t even care.”

Wooley looked right into the camera. “Waxer, Boil, you are not allowed to add ’ika to the end of my name. Go it?”

Tup finally let go of Ahsoka. “I think that’s about all for the names. Names are so important to us. We don’t have much else to call our own so getting a name or choosing a name is sometimes the only thing we do get.”

“Yeah, our brothers die all the time,” Wooley said. “But there’s something especially awful about them dying without a name. Just a number. A faceless number. One in millions. I mean, anyone can tell the difference between a trooper named Wiseguy and a trooper named Shark, even if you never met them. But who can tell the difference between CT-4492 and CT-7837? Those numbers don’t mean anything.”

Ahsoka put a hand on his shoulder.

“Well, that took a turn for the depressing,” Tup said, scrubbing his eyes. “Hey Sok’ika, want to know the dumbest clone name in the galaxy?”

Ahsoka quirked a brow. “I’m not sure. Isn’t that a little mean to make fun of someone’s name?”

“Oh, this guy totally deserves it,” Wooley scoffed. “It’s a rule that when you go out drinking, you stick together no matter what. If the Corries arrest one of you, they arrest all of you. But this guy, he ran away!”

“Claimed he didn’t want to get a disappointment lecture from Billaba,” Tup scoffed.

“Which is stupid because everyone knows that Commander Cody has perfected the ‘I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed’ lecture.”

“Last time he made Krys cry,” Tup said, shaking his head. “The only one who seems immune to it is Captain Rex.”

Ahsoka laughed. “Alright, so you guys want revenge on this guy for leaving you to the mercy of Fox and his troopers. What’s his name?”

Wooley grinned. “Flippity-flop.”

She burst out laughing. “Flippity-flop?”

“That’s what I said. Flippity-flop.”

“Why is he called Flippity-flop?” she asked, wiping tears from her eyes.

Tup shifted on his seat, grinning from ear to ear. “Because, it’s his first mission, right? He’s all nice and shiny and ready for some action. Ready to show the general that he’s got the right stuff.”

“So,” Wooley cut in, “they’re in the gunship, waiting to land. Waiting for that green light. Door’s open. He’s the first one out. Ready to make a name for himself and….whoosh! He slips and falls right off the ship.” He started howling with laughter.

“No!” Ahsoka gasped.

“Yes!” Tup said. “What made it worse was the fact that they were on a mountain. So not only did Flippity-flop fall off the gunship, but he flipped and flopped halfway down the mountain. Luckily, General Billaba caught him with the Force before he could bash his head open on a rock.”

“But the damage was done. From there on out, he was known by everyone as Flippity-flop.”

“I hear he goes by ‘Flip’ now,” Tup said. “But to those of us in the know. He’ll always be Flippity-flop.”

Ahsoka wiped more tears from her eye. “I can’t believe it. That’s amazing.”

“How about you, Commander?” Wooley asked. “Any weird clone names?”

She thought about it for a moment and then shook her head. “No. Most of the 501st, 212th, and Wolfpack are pretty standard. I do really like Dogma’s name, though.”

“Dogma?” Tup asked.

She nodded. “Yeah. It’s very poetic, in a way. Oh, and I’ve never met him but I also really like Commander Neyo’s name.”

“I see. So, you like the more esoteric names. Not the descriptors or nat-born names,” Tup said.

She smiled and patted the side of Tup’s face. “I like all your names.”

“But you like Dogma and Commander Neyo’s a little bit more.”

*****

Creche to Command had done things for politics that Padme never imagined. The constituents had been so outspoken lately about clone rights. And that in turn was making them more outspoken about other issues they had opinions on.

It was like this one little series, as insignificant as it may have seemed at first, gave people a jumping-off point for speaking out. A starting point for dealing with issues in the galaxy. Padme loved it. She loved that people were getting more involved in politics. She loved that people were trying to use their voices and get their representatives to work for them and not in their own interests. But sometimes it was hard knowing how to solve these issues.

Case in point: the last episode of Creche to Command.

When the public found out that some troopers died without a name, there had been a massive outcry. People were demanding that something be done about this. And she agreed. Only, no one could figure out how to address the issue. Her small group of allies, usually in agreement on things, were now fractured and arguing.

“I’m telling you, taking away their right to name themselves will not go over well with the troopers,” Riyo argued.

“What else can we do? We can’t just let them die without names. And, once they’re dead, they can’t choose one!” Senator Organa argued back.

“I do not trust the Kaminoans to name them properly. They’d probably just name them Tony 1, Tony 2, Tony 3, and so on and so forth until those names don’t mean anything. Besides, we can’t force the Kaminoans to name them anyways.”

“But what other option is there? What is more important to them? The chance to choose a name, or the chance to die with a name? Both of those cannot be represented here.”

Padme sighed and massaged her brow. They both had good points. The trooper culture was much different from any other culture in the galaxy. A trooper’s name was not the same as hers. Her name was something given to her by her parents. It was a symbol of her family. Of her parents’ tastes. A trooper’s name was much more personal. It was a way to make themselves an individual. It was a way to mark their personality with a sound that identified them as different from the millions of other faces that looked just like them. It was a way to have something when you owned nothing. They couldn’t, in good faith, take that away from them.

But on the other hand, if a trooper died before they got their names, what were they supposed to do? Were they supposed to require a name before the cadets graduated and were sent out into the field? And what happened if two troopers had the same name? What then?

Why was something as simple as ‘figure out what to do about trooper names’ so complicated?

Senator Mothma cleared her throat, causing the argument between Senator Organa and Riyo to quiet. “If I may, we do have a potential contact that might be able to help.”

“Who?” Padme asked.

“Commander Fox. He is the one that wrote the food donation bill after all. He could probably find a solution that satisfies both trooper culture, and the public’s desire for all troopers to get a name.”

Riyo blushed at the mention of Fox. “That is a good idea. He does know the culture better than we do.”

“I agree. Maybe we should bring him in for all future discussions related to the troopers,” Senator Organa said.

Padme sent one of her guards to go fetch him. “Hopefully he’s not too busy. In the meantime, let’s go over this privacy act. I don’t like how it might affect the welfare system.”

They agreed and began talking about the bill and if they should try to add some provisions or block it altogether. Eventually, Padme got so lost in the conversation that she forgot she had even sent for Fox.

After about two hours, though, he came. If it was even possible, he looked even more tired and overworked than last time.

“Senators, you sent for me?” he said.

Riyo blushed once more. “Yes, we were hoping you could help us with something.”

“Of course. I am here to serve after all.” He bit back a yawn.

“Um, Commander, you’ve gotten some sleep, right?” Padme asked.

“Yes, sir. Four hours.”

“This evening?”

“This month.”

They all exchanged worried glances.

“Well, then, we don’t want to keep you long. Have you seen the latest episode of Creche to Command?”

Fox’s eye twitched. He turned around and muttered into his commlink, “Send more rats to Rex next supply drop.”

The trooper on the other end confirmed and Fox turned back around. “I have not seen it.”

“Okay, let me give you a quick explanation.” She told him about the name situation and how they were trying to figure out a way every trooper could get a name even in death without taking away such an important aspect of the culture.

Fox listened patiently as she went over their different options. Predictably, he shut down the idea of forcing the Kaminoans to name them immediately.

“Any other ideas?” Senator Mothma said.

Fox thought for a moment. “Most troopers tell their names to their closest brothers, you can always ask them what names they were considering.”

“And what if they didn’t tell their brothers?” Padme asked.

Fox tapped his fingers on the desk. “You could always have the citizens of the Republic submit name ideas and have the troopers closest to them pick their favorites. It’s a bit of a fluff bill but it would boost morale among the civilians and make it seem like you're taking their concerns seriously.”

“That’s a great idea, commander. Thank you.” Padme wrote down his ideas. “But, this isn’t just a fluff bill. We are trying to take this seriously. We want you and your brothers to be treated with the respect all citizens of the Republic have a right to.”

“Then what is your plan for all these names?” Fox asked carefully.

“I beg your pardon?”

He hesitated, likely trying to decide if it was worth speaking his mind to them. If they were a threat. He seemed to decide that they weren’t and explained.

“Let’s say you bring this to the Chancellor and it gets passed. Then what? What does it matter if some commander logs a trooper’s death with his name or his CT number? In the end, it doesn’t change anything. A dead brother is a dead brother. You all have people who would mourn your deaths. Family, friends, and things like that. We only have our brothers and maybe our generals. What does it matter if a trooper dies before he gets his name? What does this whole ‘citizens submit names’ idea change about the circumstances of their deaths?”

She hadn’t thought about that, but he had a point. Yet another kink in a deceptively simple problem.

Fox looked at them, sighed, then took a seat. “Alright, let’s figure this out. I left Thorn in charge so hopefully Coruscant won’t burn to the ground while I’m here.”

Padme was almost taken aback by how easily and swiftly he took charge of the situation. She could see why his men respected him so much. And his confidence put her at ease. They’d figure this out. One way or another, no trooper would ever die without a name.

Not if she had any say in the matter.

*****

Palpatine’s eye twitched as he read through the bill brought to him by Senator Organa.

“The Post-Humous Clone Name Act?” He didn’t need clarification, but he could not believe what he was reading.

Senator Organa grinned. “Yes. This act would create a registry for all clone troopers and their names. An obituary of sorts. If a trooper does not have a name when they die, the citizens of the Republic can submit a name and the troopers can choose the one they think would best fit their fallen comrade. All names would be legally binding, just as your name. And the citizens can read about the troopers and their stories.”

Palpatine’s eye twitched once more. This was the second pro-clone bill brought before him in a short amount of time. It had to be that blasted series. “Creche to Command”. Dooku said that it wasn’t going to cause any more problems but here it was, rearing its ugly head.

“Senator, I don’t think this is what you should be focusing on,” he said.

“It’s what the people want. They have been clamoring for some sort of standardized naming system for the troopers since the last episode of ‘Creche to Command’ came out.”

So it was the fault of that Force-forsaken series. The people were supposed to despise the clones, not like them! He had a very carefully crafted plan and this was throwing it into disarray. What was he supposed to do with this? How was he supposed to react to this?

That girl. It was all that girl’s fault. He needed to do something about her before she caused any more disturbances.

“Chancellor, are you okay?” Organa said.

Palpatine smoothed over his features and put on a sympathetic smile. “I cannot guarantee something like this would pass.”

Organa’s grin merely widened. “It’s a pretty innocent bill. And, as I said, it’s what the people want. I can’t imagine we’ll have much pushback. Besides, the citizens are already chomping at the bit to submit their name ideas. Maybe you should submit a few, sir. To show your support.”

“First let’s pass the bill, senator. Then we can focus on names.” He forced himself to sound cheerful and happy about this turn of events.

Creche to Command.

Something needed to be done about that series.

*****

When Rex got the new directive, he almost couldn’t believe it. He had been asked, or rather the entire GAR had been asked, to write short paragraphs about each of their brothers that had died. What’s more, their names were now legally binding names. Just like any nat-borns. He was still CT-7567, but now he was also Rex. Legally Rex. Something that would never change. Something that could never be taken from him.

And the obituaries. So many brothers gone. At one time, he thought only the troopers would ever remember them. They’d be the only ones speaking their names and remembering their personalities. But now anyone in the galaxy could access the database and see his brothers. Their likes. Their dislikes. Their personalities. All out in the galaxy for everyone to see. No longer a number. A name. And a person behind that name.

Not only that, but no trooper would ever die without a name again. Their squad could choose one and citizens were submitting so many different names every day. Some were normal names. Some were weird. Some were beautiful. Some were strong. All were amazing.

He had never felt this accepted by the government or its people. He would die for the Republic, which had never changed. But the way he felt about dying now was much different. Before he was willing to die because that’s just what a trooper did. Now there was a feeling of peace with it. A love for it. A fire burning deep within him that made him not want to die for the Republic, but to live for it. He wanted to come out of every battle alive because that meant he could fight for a system that saw him as a person. He could be a part of it.

And it was great. It was really great. Better than he or his brothers could have ever hoped for back on Kamino.

Except for one small problem.

On one hand, it was nice to be treated as a person.

On the other hand…

“Cloney McCloneface?” Rex deadpanned, staring at the shuffling troopers in front of him, trying to figure out if this was all some elaborate joke.

The group snorted with laughter.

The one in front schooled his features back into a serious expression. He didn’t have an official name yet, but Rex had heard some of his brothers start to refer to him as Cato. He had already gotten the paperwork filled out so all that Cato had to do was sign it and then it’d be official.

“Yes, sir,” Cato said.

Rex looked back down at the paperwork the men had submitted and then looked back up at the group.

“You want to name your dead brother… Cloney McCloneface?”

Once more, the boys all snorted and choked on their poorly concealed laughter.

“Yes, sir,” Cato said.

“Cloney McCloneface?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, sir.”

Rex sighed and massaged his temples. He looked back up at the shinies. “Did you hate your brother? Is that what this is?”

“No, sir! We didn’t!” Another trooper cried.

“Because, if you did, you could have just named him Steve or something. No offense, Steve.”

“None taken, sir,” Steve said.

“We didn’t hate Cloney, really!” Cato said.

Maker help him, he was going to murder these boys. “Then why name him something so ridiculous? You know this is going to be his official name. As in, this will be on his death certificate and in the public record for his obituary. And you’re not going to be able to change it.”

“Because…” Cato sighed. “Look, you didn’t know him. Like, at all. We’re all shiny. All fresh off Kamino. You didn’t know what he was like. But he loved to make people laugh.”

“That was his thing,” a third trooper said. “No matter how bad things got, no matter how depressed you got over the war or whatever, he was always there to make jokes and make you smile.”

“The name seems ridiculous to you, sir,” one added. “But it’s not far off from what he was considering.”

“And what was he considering?”

The troopers all looked at each other.

“Bubbles.”

“Bubbles?” Rex raised an eyebrow. And he thought Fives’ name was stupid.

“Yeah,” Cato said. “He thought it’d put a smile on people’s faces whenever they said it. Said it was impossible to say it with a straight face.”

“And, I quote, “It’ll be really hard to take a CO seriously when they’re yelling at me. Because, can you really say ‘Bubbles’ angrily?’. That was just the kind of guy he was.”

“If anything, he’d probably be pissed he didn’t think of Cloney McCloneface first,” one grumbled.

“Yeah, you can’t say Cloney McCloneface with a straight face, sir. Though, you are doing a really good job at disproving that theory.”

Rex shot him an unimpressed look.

Cato took a deep breath. He opened and closed his mouth several times before finally speaking. “Nothing can bring back our brother. Not this name. Not this obituary. Nothing. He’s gone. Forever. First battle off Kamino and he’s gone. Didn’t even have a chance to paint his armor or choose his own fucking name. His last words to me, with a fucking pipe sticking out of his chest, were ‘bet you I’m the first trooper shish kabob’.”

A trooper behind him wiped his eyes and shook his head. “It wasn’t one of his better jokes. Let’s be real.”

“Even when he was dying, he was still trying to make us laugh. Knew he wasn’t going to get out of there but still was trying to make us laugh.”

Rex hated comforting troopers after deaths. And he especially hated comforting shinies after the first death of a brother.

Oh, who was he kidding, these boys weren’t shiny anymore. Their armor was still streaked with mud from their last battle. He thought he could see a bloody handprint on one of their arms. He had to wonder if it was from their fallen brother, or someone else. Their faces were mired with stubble and dust and dark circles under their eyes. The eyes themselves were bloodshot. Their hair was messed up.

They were hurting. Just like any trooper who had just lost a brother.

“Nu kyr’adyc, shi taab’echaaj’la,” he said softly. “Ni su’cuyi, gar kyr’adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum”

“We don’t know that one yet, sir,” a trooper said.

Rex looked up at them. “Daily remembrance. “I’m still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal.” Then you say your fallen brothers' names. Alright, if you swear to me this is not some joke, I’ll sign off on the name.”

“We swear, sir,” Cato said.

“Right. Then, I’ll finish up the paperwork. Maybe for his obit, you can make a list of his actual best jokes,” he suggested.

“Will do, sir. Thank you, sir.” The men all shuffled out of his office. They still had an air of grief around them, but it was lighter than before. They were learning to move on. To remember the dead but keep on living. It was a hard lesson, but a necessary one.

Rex finished his paperwork and sent it off to be officially recognized as the trooper’s name.

Yet another fallen brother to add to the list of names that seemed to grow every day. At least this time, people could search for him and read about him. He hoped whoever submitted the name got a kick out of seeing it on the registry. It’s what Cloney McCloneface would have wanted.

*****

“For the last time, Fives, I’m not putting that as Hevy’s greatest achievement!”

Ahsoka heard Echo’s sharp voice from a quieter part of the ship. With Krell now gone, the men had started to come out, but the damage had been done. They seemed jumpier, less confident, and subdued. She wondered if she made the right decision by not telling Anakin or Master Obi-Wan about him.

She almost didn’t follow the voice. The last time she went searching, she ended up making Master Krell angry.

But this was Echo and Fives and she missed hanging out with them.

She peaked around the corner to see them on the floor, a datapad between them and some bottles of dark ale around them.

“I let you write Droidbait’s obituary,” Fives said.

“And I let you write Cutup’s. Now we’re compromising. And I’m not putting that as Hevy’s greatest accomplishment.”

Oh, right. The obituaries.

A lot of troopers had been working on them since the new bill was passed; rushing to get their brothers recognition they had never had before. Ahsoka always thought she knew what the scale of the war was. She thought she knew how many troopers died. And she did know the numbers. She just didn’t realize what those numbers meant until she was scrolling through the registry. The sheer amount of dead troopers overwhelmed her. She didn’t even get through the A’s before having to leave the site and go meditate for a few hours. All those people, gone. Some of them were gone before she had ever set foot on a battlefield.

“It’s not my fault the bastard up and died before we could get off Rishi!”

“Then let’s put the Citadel test as his greatest achievement.”

“Oh, yeah! That’s a great idea! Let’s all describe in detail how one of our instructors tried to sabotage us so we’d get tossed into maintenance with all the other defective clones! I’m sure Hevy would love that.”

She rolled her eyes and decided to intervene before Echo and Fives escalated any further. They weren’t Krell. And she knew how to handle them.

They loved each other very much. She could feel it deep within their souls. But unlike Cody and Rex who seemed to agree with each other most of the time. Echo and Fives seemed to thrive off arguments and pressing at each other’s buttons. She didn’t understand it, but if it worked for them, it worked for them. Sometimes it was a good idea to step in, though. Just to keep the damage to a minimum.

“What are you guys up to?” she asked, coming around the corner.

“Trying to finish up the obits for Domino Squad,” Echo said.

“We’d be done already if you’d just put Hevy’s greatest achievement as blowing up the Rishi Base.”

“That was our base! That’s not an achievement.”

“It is if you’re Hevy.”

Ahsoka shook her head and plopped herself between Fives’ legs, resting her back against his chest. He propped his chin right in the dip of her montrals.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you guys talk about your squad before,” she said cautiously. Sometimes troopers loved talking about their fallen brothers. Other times they hated it. That mixed with the fact that Echo and Fives had been drinking (not a lot based on the smell but still a little) she might be setting up for another argument.

She hoped not.

Echo shrugged. “Never really any reason too. You never met them. You would have liked them, though. And they probably would have liked you.”

“Droidbait especially would have liked you.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Isn’t that name a little mean?”

“It’s not mean! I swear Droidbait swallowed a magnet in his growth chamber or something. Damn clankers were drawn to him,” Fives said.

“One time during training,” Echo said, “I was on my back. Blaster right out of reach. There was a droid standing over me, ready to fire. Completely focused on me. Then, Droidbait tripped and fell right behind the droid. Keep in mind, this thing’s got me unarmed and on my back, its full attention is on me. Only, as soon as Droidbait’s out in the open, it turns and shoots him instead! I was so surprised I didn’t even think to go grab the blaster or even just duck for cover.”

“Everyone was surprised, including the instructors,” Fives added. “They shut down the entire simulation and ran diagnostics on the whole system to see if it had been hacked. Or if Tech was messing with it again.”

Ahsoka laughed softly.

“Hey, Echo,” Fives said.

“Yeah?”

“Hevy and Hardcase? Best friends or bitter rivals?”

Echo did a full-body shudder. “We should be very glad those two never met.”

“What was Hevy like?” Ahsoka asked.

“Think Hardcase, but less hyperactive. He loved his guns. Especially the big ones.” Fives explained.

“I think they would have been friends. But the kind of friendship where they’re also rivals. They would have constantly been trying to one-up each other and doing stupid shit.”

“Like Hardcase playing ‘hot potato’ with a live grenade and a droid?” Ahsoka grinned.

“Pretty sure the Captain damn near had a stroke when he read that report,” Fives squeezed her slightly.

“I bet you guys were great as cadets.”

“Oh hell no!” Echo said. “We were the worst!”

“We were so bad, that even though we were able-bodied and battle ready, they were still considering sticking us in maintenance because we had such a problem succeeding in training missions.” Fives said. “You got Hevy running off to do his own thing. Echo over here unable to adapt without orders. Droidbait being, well, droid bait. And Cutup trying to be a peacemaker and failing miserably.”

“What about you?” Ahsoka asked.

Fives scoffed. “I was perfect.”

Echo flicked a bottlecap at him.

“So this arguing, that’s always been a thing with you guys?”

“Wouldn’t be Domino Squad without at least one argument a training session,” Fives sighed. “We failed our final test. They let us take it again. I have no idea how they managed to swing that. Thought we were going to fail that one too.”

“But you guys, passed, obviously,” she said.

“Obviously. It helped that 99 talked some sense into Hevy. He was the only one that could get through to him.”

“99?” she asked.

“Have we not told you about 99?” Fives gasped. “Oh, we are failures as brothers. Every trooper worth their salt knows about 99.”

“He was a trooper?”

Echo shook his head. “No. He was too deformed for that. He was one of the firsts, back when the Kaminoans were still trying to figure out the cloning process. His growth was all over the place, he aged too rapidly, had a humpback and a bum leg. So, they stuck him in maintenance with the rest of the defective clones. Well, except for Clone Force 99, but they’re supposed to be defective so I don’t think that really counts.”

“99 was great,” Fives continued. “You could always count on him to give you some words of wisdom or to help calm you down after a harsh training session. Never set foot off Kamino but seemed wiser than any of us. He would have loved you.”

“Really?” Ahsoka beamed.

“Oh yeah. You probably would have been his favorite vod.”

“I doubt it. Besides, he had Hevy.”

“That is true. He still would have loved you.”

“I would have loved to meet him. He sounds like a great man.”

“He was.” Fives squeezed him again. “I think every trooper in the GAR is working on his obituary. As I said, he was a pretty common set piece around Tipoca City.”

They lapsed back into silence. Ahsoka let them sit in it. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. It was the kind of silence you sometimes needed. A chance to think about things and come to a form of acceptance.

Echo groaned and flopped back. “Fine, Fives. We can put that Hevy’s greatest accomplishment was a spot of domestic terrorism.”

Fives chuckled. “When you put it like that, that does make it seem kind of bad.”

“Well, I’m not going to phrase it like that,” Echo said, flicking another bottle cap at him.

“How are you two holding up? Doing all these obituaries and whatnot?” Ahsoka asked before the argument could escalate again. And they were doing so well before! Although, now that she knew this was common even as cadets, she wasn’t surprised. She was surprised that even with all the arguments, Fives and Echo were still two of the closest troopers in the 501st.

Fives shrugged. “It’s hard, but it’s also nice. I don’t blame the Captain for not really caring about Droidbait, Cutup, and Hevy, he’s lost a lot of people too, but it was hard. Moving on, completing the mission without them. And then we left Rishi and were introduced to the 501st and suddenly, you have a bunch of brothers who’ve never even heard of Hevy before. They didn’t know Cutup’s favorite food, or that stupid little song Droidbait would hum whenever he cleaned his blaster. Sometimes I worried that when Echo and I died, the rest of Domino would disappear with us. No one would ever know about them.”

“Yeah. I don’t know if anyone is ever going to stumble on these obituaries, but knowing that they’ll be there after we’re gone makes it feel like maybe they won’t be forgotten,” Echo said.

Fives squeezed her again. “Vod’ika, when I die, I want you to write my obituary.”

“You’re not going to die, Fives,” she whispered, slipping a hand into his and squeezing it.

“We’ll all die someday. And if you leave it to Echo, he’ll just write something boring. Like, ‘Fives scored in the top fifteen percent for target practice’ or something like that. I need people to know about my coolest moments. I’ll write you a list.”

“Okay, Fives. I’ll write you an awesome obituary. In like thirty years when you die of old age.”

He didn’t answer. He just squeezed her. She would do everything in her power to keep Fives and Echo and all her boys alive for as long as possible. She wanted to say that she’d work to make them outlive her, but she knew no matter how the war went, that likely wasn’t a possibility. So, she’d settle on helping them live as long as possible. And when they did die, in whatever way it happened, she’d honor them by making their names known to the rest of the galaxy.

*****

CommanderBly: Hey, Hunter wants to remind you all that he wants the obits for 99 by next week.

CommanderWolffe: Copy that. I think my men are all done but I’ll do another pass.

CommanderGree: Hey @CommanderThire @CommanderStone @CommanderThorn, how is Fox holding up? Has he cooled off from the last time we talked? More accepting of Creche to Command?

CommanderThire: He sent live rats to Rex so I’m going to say no.

CommanderWolffe: lololololololololololol. Again? Did Ahsoka finish off the rest of the last pack of rats he sent her?

CommanderThorn: Unclear. But Fox is actually doing okay. He helped co-write the Post Humous Clone Name Act bill, though his name’s not on it.

CommanderPonds: Really? Didn’t know he was interested in being a politician.

CommanderStone: He’s not. But the senators keep dragging him into things and he can’t say no.

CommanderGree: It’s Amidala and Chuchi, though, right? I’m sure they’d leave him alone if he asked.

CommanderWolffe: That Chuchi senator still got the hots for him?

CommanderStone: Yes.

CommanderWolffe: And does he know about it?

CommanderStone: I don’t even think he knows she’s from Pantora.

CommanderGree: Hey @CommanderNeyo, how’s it feel to know that Commander Tano likes your name the best?

CommanderNeyo: I didn’t even know she knew I existed.

CommanderPonds: Rex or Cody probably mentioned you at some point.

CommanderNeyo: Nice to get a shout-out on C2C.

CommanderWilco: We should probably start screening the obits before they go out, though. Apparently, some kids on Salucemi found a trooper named Hevy’s obit and now there are a ton of kids out there whose dream is to blow up a base on some backwater moon.

CommanderWolffe: Amazing. I love it. Inspiring the neverd’e like always, brothers.

CommanderCody: Hey, how many of you have spent time with Pong Krell?

CommanderWolffe: The asshole?

CommanderPonds: GAR network, vod.

CommanderWolffe: He is an asshole though. General Koon says I’m not allowed to be alone in a room with him.

CommanderStone: Because you’d probably kill him.

CommanderWolffe: I mean, yeah, but you can’t tell me that asshole doesn’t deserve it.

CommanderBly: Why do you care @CommanderCody? You dropped him off, right? No major incidents?

CommanderCody: He didn’t hit any of us or anything.

CommanderGree: He did something, didn’t he?

CommanderCody: Nothing that would warrant getting another general involved.

CommanderCody: I think.

CommanderCody: Look, just keep an eye on him. He hasn’t done anything yet.

CommanderWolffe: “Yet” being the key word here.

CommanderCody: I know. I know. Just keep an eye out. And maybe make sure no troopers are alone with him when he’s with your units. Okay?

CommanderGree: Fine, vod. You promise he didn’t do anything?

CommanderCody: And maybe keep an eye on Commander Offree if he’s ever around.

CommanderGree: Alright, now you’re scaring me. What did he do?

CommanderCody: Just got into an argument with Ahsoka. Nothing bad. It’s just… it rubs me the wrong way. That’s all.

CommanderGree: Fine. I’ll keep an eye on him if I ever have the displeasure of having to share a ship with him.

CommanderGree: But if he harms Barriss, he’s a dead man.

CommanderWolffe: Don’t worry, brother. I’ll help you hide the body.

Chapter Text

Ahsoka tried to keep herself humble. She was a Jedi and all good Jedi were humble. They did not brag. They did not act prideful or arrogant. They remained modest through all praise and appreciation. Being arrogant would lead to your downfall, after all.

And, while Ahsoka did tend to embellish some of her tales with the excuse that she was just being ‘one of the boys’ and inspiring them with daring feats of strength, dexterity, and truly impressive lightsaber work, deep down, she made sure to remind herself that she was still a padawan. She still had a lot to learn. And in comparison to the Force, she was rather insignificant. Not in a bad way, in a humble way. She needed to remember that she did not have ultimate power and the power she did have had its limits.

That all changed after the last episode of Creche to Command. She was finally forced to admit that she had power. A lot of power. More power than she was aware of. What had once started as a small series meant only to help initiates at the temple ease into their duties as commanders had spiraled way beyond what she could have ever imagined. Her voice, her video series, was being used to make changes. Real changes.

Not one, but two pro-clone bills had been passed by the Senate in a relatively short amount of time. They weren’t amazing bills and weren’t going to help turn the tide of war, but they were improving her brothers’ lives, if only incrementally. Again, she was trying to be humble and find other explanations for this that didn’t involve her. And she could come up with none. Each bill had been passed not long after their corresponding episodes had aired. One might be a coincidence, but two? She could influence politics simply by posting an episode.

And it wasn’t just politics. Civilians from all over the galaxy loved her series. And, in turn, loved the troopers. They were more willing to help out. More willing to trust them. More willing to treat them like people who were giving their lives to protect them. They were donating their own food because her brothers complained about the rations. They were submitting millions of name ideas because some of her brothers died without a name. They were calling up their senators and demanding better treatment. People were actually talking about the troopers on the street. They were grateful. They were thankful. Her stupid little series, while maybe not the only thing to push this change, was a catalyst. She was helping the people she cared about most. And she never planned for it to happen.

That thought alone was almost enough to make her glow with pride and happiness and joy.

And then there was Krell.

Master Pong Krell.

A man whose guts she despised more than Dooku’s at this point.

Her unfortunate run-in with him had been a slap in the face by just how far they still had to go. If anyone should be kind to the troopers, it should be a Jedi, but he wasn’t. He treated them like they were dirt on his shoes. And when Ahsoka tried to call him out on it, tried to correct his behavior, he… He…

She shuddered and rubbed her wrist. It never bruised. He never physically hurt her. She was fine.

Besides, she had bigger things to worry about than a pissy Jedi who didn’t like using names.

Krell wasn’t the only problem in this galaxy. There were still people out there that would treat her brothers like they were mere numbers. Mass-produced men that were only meant to die. Not even meant to live to see the end of the war. For every pro-clone bill the Senate passed, there were just as many that served to hurt her brothers. To cut back on medical equipment. To strike down research that would improve their armor citing budgetary reasons. To push cadets to finish their training younger and younger.

There were still anti-clone groups that would take to the streets in protest. Who didn’t care how many of her brothers died. Who didn’t care how they lived or were treated. Who thought all of them should be executed because they had no right to exist.

Those people made Ahsoka’s blood boil and her mind race with ideas. If her series was as powerful as she thought it was, then all it would take was a video or two and she could change everything. She could demand better treatment outright. She could scold these anti-clone groups and the anti-clone bills that passed. She could call out how Palpatine cut back necessary funding for equipment that would help them live longer. She could condemn the Kaminoans for their cruel treatment of her brothers. She could force this galaxy to change for the better.

Rex would have scolded her for even entertaining the idea.

”Just because you think you have the upper hand, doesn’t mean you do,” he had said once.

“But I did this time! I had Fives in a headlock. He couldn’t get out! If you hadn’t kicked me I would have won!”

He shook his head. “Nope. Rule Number One of battle, kid: never assume you have the upper hand. Always assume your enemy has something else to give them a leg up. Another blaster. A knife. A sniper on the rooftops. Another battalion of clankers they can deploy. Never assume you have all the power. If you do, you’ll miss something and die.”

“That’s not fair, though! You didn’t say you could attack.”

“War’s not fair,” Rex said, his face grave and serious. “It’s not fair and it will kill you if you ever forget that. Had you actually been paying attention to your surroundings, you would have seen me come up and blocked the kick.”

Ahsoka crossed her arms and glared at the ground. She wasn’t pouting. She was glaring.

Rex sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. “Kid, you’re right, it’s not fair. And I’m sorry that it’s not. But I will not apologize for making you understand that. I will not apologize for doing everything in my power to make sure you make it out of every battle alive. Never, ever assume you have the upper hand. Is that clear?”

She nodded.

This wasn’t a life-or-death battle. There were no battalions of droids waiting around the corner to surprise her. There were no snipers on the rooftops. But just because there weren’t, didn’t mean she could charge into this headfirst and start making demands.

Right now she assumed she had power because of a few pro-clone bills and some friendlier locals. The response on the holonet had been good, but the series was still young. She had to be careful. If she pushed too hard, that might turn people off. She might cause a backlash. She might overestimate her power and end up causing more problems than she solved. She might draw the attention of those anti-clone groups and inspire them to start making their own series. And then those series might be better received than her and once more the attitudes towards the troopers would shift.

She needed to be careful.

She needed to be patient.

She also needed to conduct a test. Something small. Something that proved the series had more far-reaching power and people were willing to listen to her.

It was easy to pick a topic. The idea came to her when she overhead Denal and Dogma talking one day.

“My back hurts,” Denal groaned, rubbing at it and trying to massage it out. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I wish we were still down on that planet. The moss was more comfortable than our beds.”

“I feel you. I think I need to go down to the med bay for some pain meds. I got knocked around by a clanker and pinched a nerve in my neck. The pillows are not helping that situation,” Dogma agreed, also rubbing at his neck and wincing.

She had found her topic of conversation. “Hey, guys,” she said, skipping up to them.

“Hey, vod’ika,” Denal said, yawning. “You doing okay after the battle? Heard you went into the river.”

“I’m fine. Kind of wish Jesse had gone with me. He’s starting to smell again.”

“Eh, give him a break. The soap gives him a rash and it’s not helped by the scratchy blankets.” Dogma said.

“I know,” Ahsoka said. “But I wanted to ask you something. Are you guys interested in being on an episode of Creche to Command? I know you haven’t really been on one yet.”

“Yeah, I’d like to be on one,” Dogma said. “What do you want us to talk about? How to defeat clankers?”

“Sorry, Jesse’s already called that one.”

“Jesse already had his episode.” Denal scoffed.

“I know, I know, but I think you guys are going to like this one,” She said.

“Alright, I’ll bite. What do you want us to talk about?” Denal asked.

“I want you to complain about the barracks,” she grinned.

Dogma and Denal exchanged a confused glance.

“Um… I’m sorry?” Denal said. “You want us to just sit there and complain about our shitty living situations?”

“That’s right.”

They exchanged another confused glance.

“Isn’t this supposed to be a feel-good series?” Dogma asked. “I know the food episode had a lot of complaining in it, but we don’t want to scare the shinies or baby Jedi into thinking life on a ship is going to suck. Besides, I don’t think the neverd’e are going to be very interested in us complaining about soap and scratchy bedsheets.”

“I’m testing a theory,” she explained. “And I don’t want you to be huge downers. Still try to find the positive aspects of living in the barracks, but let the civilians know what it’s like. Trust me.”

“If you think that’s what the people want,” Denal said. “Alright, I’m down. We have some free time now if you want to get started.”

Ahsoka grinned. “Perfect.”

If this went the way she thought it would, then Denal and Dogma were never going to complain about scratchy bed sheets and bad pillows ever again.

*****

Episode 8: Bunks and Barracks with Dogma and Denal

“Hey guys, I’m here with Dogma,” Ahsoka said.

“Yes! Now everyone can see the trooper with her favorite name,” Dogma said, grinning.

“Eh, I like Commander Neyo’s better.”

“But you said mine first.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night. And we’re also joined by Denal! The trooper that sold me out to Kix.”

Denal rolled his eyes. “Vod’ika you were standing next to a building when it blew up. And Kix is scary! I am not about to get on his bad side.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “You’re a traitor to me, brother. I’ll always remember your betrayal.”

“You have got to stop hanging out with Fives, you are getting way too dramatic.”

“The drama is necessary to let the audience know how much you hurt me by forcing me to go with Kix.”

Denal looked at the camera. “She’s dramatic,” he whispered.

Ahsoka stuck out her tongue once more and turned back to the camera. “Chop-shop and Dean are also in here just so you guys know who the two troopers wandering around are.”

Chop-shop and Dean, who were playing a game of dejarik in the background waved to the camera.

“Right,” she said, “as you guys can see, we’re actually in a very special place: the bunks!”

“Yup, where we sleep most nights. Unless we’re planetside,” Dogma said. “We’re sitting on my bunk now. Because Denal’s is a mess. Which is weird because I don’t know how you have enough things to make a mess with.”

“Oi, just because you’re all about the tucked corners and bouncing credits off it doesn’t mean the rest of us need to spend thirty minutes making our bed,” Denal argued. “You’re just going to mess it up when you sleep in it again.”

“It’s not about whether or not it will be messed up. It’s about the pride of your living space.”

“I have pride in my living space!”

“Which is why you got a bunch of crap all scattered around it. Do you push it off on the floor every night and then put it back on every morning? Or do you just sleep on top of it?”

Ahsoka sighed. “And here I thought Tup and Wooley were going to mark the start of one of these not having an argument. Every Jedi Cruiser has a section called the barracks where the troopers stay when not on duty.”

Denal and Dogma finished their argument and turned back to the task at hand.

“The barracks have a rec room where you can relax, a place to work out, and the bunks,” Denal said.

“Usually, you’ll bunk together with your squad. Sometimes, though, depending on the size of the squads, the way the barracks are laid out, or the mission, you might get two squads together or a mix of squads. It depends,” Dogma added. “But usually in the bunks, you have no more than fifteen troopers together.”

“The Jedi generals and commanders get their own separate areas,” Ahsoka continued. “And the captains and clone commanders can have their own bunk areas.”

“But depending on your battalion, there are no hard and fast rules to where someone can bunk,” Dogma said. “Captain Rex will often bunk with us unless Commander Cody is here. And you’re in here pretty often.”

“Right. Togrutas are a communal species so sometimes I sleep better when there are a lot of people around,” Ahsoka explained. “And, since we’re in your guys’ bunk now, why don’t you give us a tour?”

Denal and Dogma looked around at the sad grey walls.

“Um… not much to look at,” Denal said. “We’re sitting on Dogma’s bunk now. There’s a dejarik board over there. Chop-shop, is that the one you dug out of the scrap heap?”

“Yeah!”

Denal looked back at the camera. “We dug it out of a scrap heap. Thankfully, General Skywalker is very good with machines so he was able to get it working again.”

“Why don’t you talk about the actual bunk itself?” Ahsoka suggested.

“Right! Right?” Dogma pulled up a pillow. “This is our pillow. It’s… it’s um… it’s pretty floppy as you can see.”

The pillow did not look like a pillow. It looked more like a sheet it was so thin. A strip of cloth died white. How anyone thought that was a pillow was beyond much of the audience.

“It’s a good weapon if you want to smack someone you don’t like with it,” Denal said, taking the pillow and tossing it at Dean, hitting him in the head.

“Hey! What was that for?”

“It was a demonstration!”

“Oh, and this is the blanket,” Ahsoka said, pulling off Dogma’s perfectly made blanket and showing it to the camera. “Wow, this is so scratchy. This is why I usually sleep in my robes. It’s more comfortable.”

“But at least we’re alive,” Dogma said, trying to sound bright. “And yeah, the blankest are a little thin and scratchy, but that’s why we have our blacks! Keeps us nice and warm. And keeps the scratchy materials away from our skin.”

“Do kind of wish I had some better socks, though,” Denal said. “You ever been on a ship like this with bare feet? It’s freezing!” He shuddered.

“I just wear my boots,” Dogma said.

“Even to bed?” Denal asked.

“My feet get cold if they’re not in the boots.”

“You don’t layer up with your greys?”

“Sometimes I do if it’s especially cold, but if we have to get up and get dressed in a hurry, I don’t want to have to mess around with taking off my greys so I can put on my armor.”

“You guys don’t have anything else to wear? Just your blacks, greys, and armor?” Ahsoka asked.

Denal shrugged. “Nope. What do you do when it’s cold, vod’ika?”

“I steal Rex’s body heat,” Ahsoka shrugged.

He laughed. “You don’t steal ours?”

“No.” She patted his cheek. “Because I don’t want to torture you with my cold hands and feet. Only Rex or Fives will do.”

“Why Fives?”

“Because sometimes it’s the easiest way to get back at him when he’s being mean to me. But Rex runs the hottest out of all of you for some reason so I mainly stick with him. And it’s fun to stick my cold feet on his calves. He always yelps.”

Dogma chuckled. “So that’s what those sounds were last night. I thought someone had snuck in a loth cat and got scratched.”

“I thought Tup was trying to comb his hair again,” Denal said.

“Oh yeah, the hair thing. You know, per the reg manual—”

“You sound like Echo.”

“Don’t remind me. Anyways, per the reg manual, we’re supposed to be clean-shaven. Granted, a few troopers don’t follow that—”

“Like Fives,” Ahsoka said.

“Exactly, but a lot of us do. The only problem? If they don’t want us to have facial hair, then why don’t they give us shaving cream and better razors? I could get a closer shave with a rusty spoon I swear.” Dogma shook his head.

“Shaving cream?” Ahsoka asked.

“Yeah, it’s to help soften the hair and make the skin less irritated. Prevents razor burn and whatnot,” Denal explained.

“Your razors burn you? Why does having hair sound like such a burden,” Ahsoka said.

“Here, feel,” he said.

She ran her hand over his jaw and shuddered. “It feels irritated.”

“It is irritated. That’s why a lot of troopers tend to let their faces get stubbly. A few like the look, don’t get me wrong, but most of them just don’t want to shave. Dull razors and nothing but hard water make the entire experience a pain in the shebs. I can’t imagine how the Captain’s head must feel constantly shaving it down.”

“I think he spends a portion of his stipend on actual shaving cream and a better razor. Otherwise, his head must be extremely irritated. And then you got to wear your bucket on top of that mess. Come to think of it, I’d always be pissed off too if that was my life.”

“Why don’t you guys use your stipend to buy better products then,” Ahsoka asked.

“We don’t get that much. And there are other things we need to buy,” Dogma explained.

“Paint’s a big one. None of the paint we use on our armor is provided by the GAR. Other sources of entertainment like books or movies.”

“I know some medics buy their own medical supplies. The entire battalion usually chips in for that, though. We each give five to ten credits every month to help stock up. I mean, we make choices based on our needs. The GAR supplies razors and soap. So we decide to buy things they don’t provide for us.”

“I’m so glad I don’t have hair then,” Ahsoka said. Her brow furrowed. “Wait, they only give you soap?”

“Soap that’s so bad I think banthas get better stuff than we do,” Denal muttered.

Her brow furrowed even more. “I thought people with hair had to use a special soap for their hair. Padme says she uses shampoo and conditioner at the very least.”

“Ah, to be a senator with enough money to buy their own bath products and not a trooper using GAR standard-issue soap,” Dogma sighed dramatically.

“We get soap and soap alone. Luckily most of us don’t have a bad reaction to it. But it still dries out your skin. And then because the air on the ship is dry, you dry out even more. And then you get thrown into all sorts of planets with various climates. One day it’s hot and humid, the next day it’s cold and dry, the next day you're covered in sand.” Denal said.

“Peeling, cracked, and bleeding skin for days. But, hey, at least we got soap and water. And blankets and pillows and beds. That’s all you really need. Food, water, and shelter.”

“I guess. Anything else about the barracks you’d like to talk about?” Ahsoka asked.

Denal snapped his fingers. “Actually! This is pretty cool. Want to see it?”

Ahsoka nodded.

“Alright, hang on.” He hopped off the bunk and walked over to the side, dimming the lights and messing around with a switch. “We have a couple of rec rooms that we can use to hang out in, but sometimes those can get loud or people want to do different things. So, we’ve modified our bunks to each have a special purpose.”

“Like the pilots’ bunk is where you can go to read if you’d like. Bomb squad’s got a ton of board games and card games. And we have,” Dogma said, waiting for Denal to finish up with his fiddling.

“Ta-da!” Denal said as a project lit up and hit an empty wall on the opposite side that the audience just now noticed was painted white. A film started playing. “Our very own theater.”

“That’s so cool!” Ahsoka said. “This must be new. Usually, I’d watch stuff with you guys in Rec Room 1.”

“That’s where we watch things as a big group, but here’s where you can watch things if it’s just yourself or a small group.”

“Watching anything good?”

“Appo got us turned onto this holo-drama called “Romance on the Plains of Naboo”. Originally it was just a few of us, but word’s spread and now most of the 501st is watching it. But a lot of the guys are behind so we watch new episodes here and old episodes in the Rec Room 1 until they catch up.”

“What’s it about?” Ahsoka asked.

“A young orphan woman discovers she’s the air to a fortune. So, she goes out to her late father’s estate where she meets up with her evil stepmother who may or may not have had something to do with his death. And then there are two guys who are her love interests. It’s a lot of drama and backstabbing.” Denal explained.

“It’s great,” Dogma said. “And Francesca should totally end up with Pablo. They are literally perfect together.”

Denal threw another ‘technically a pillow but didn’t look like a pillow’ pillow at him. “No, she belongs with Alejandro. Pablo’s too much of a playboy. He’s going to get bored and break her heart.”

“You’re both wrong,” Chop-shop said as he won the game. “She should end up with neither because she is a strong and independent woman. A man would just drag her down.”

“I always thought she and Cecelia would make a nice couple,” Dean piped up. “I know it’s probably not going to happen, but they have similar interests, and backgrounds and the actresses have great chemistry.”

Ahsoka laughed. “I guess I need to get caught up on the show then.”

“We’ll send you a link to where you can watch it from the beginning,” Dogma said. “It’s the best.”

“Anything else you want to talk about with the barracks?” she asked.

Denal shrugged. “Not much to talk about. It’s our home. Not always the most comfortable, but we love it all the same.”

*****

As much as Fox hated to admit it, Creche to Command was actually making his life and the lives of his brothers better. The food donation bill and Post-Humous Clone Name Act were obvious examples. Both pro-clone legislation helped improve the lives of her brothers. True, both of them were fluff bills without a lot of far-reaching consequences that were cheap to enact and therefore didn’t garner much pushback, but they were there. They were introduced to the Senate floor and passed quickly. And if those bills could pass, what else could pass?

The question both thrilled and terrified him. He was starting to look more objectively at his life. At what he wanted. At what he deserved. That kind of thinking could be dangerous. He and his brothers were designed for war. He should only focus on the war. Thinking of the future, of a time after the war, would only lead to disaster. Besides, passing a fluff bill about names was one thing. Deciding what to do about millions of men when they no longer had a war to fight was another thing entirely. The citizens could withdraw their support as quickly as they had given it.

Just because that was the case, though, didn’t mean that Fox couldn’t enjoy some of the subtler things that had come about as a result from the series.

The main thing?

The Coruscant Guard were experiencing less harassment when they were out and about on patrols.

Before, he could expect to have at least one of his men come back muttering under his breath about areutiise and being mistreated. It wasn’t uncommon for people to sneer at them. To call them names. Spit or throw food and trash at them.

It was always a shock to the shinies the first time it happened and Fox could always tell. A couple of them had been decommissioned because they fought back instead of letting it roll off their backs. That only happened and few times before Fox and the other commanders implemented a training program to prepare them for that.

Still, learning about getting garbage thrown at you and experiencing it firsthand were two wildly different things.

It still happened, but it was becoming less and less of a problem. Once they went a whole week without a civilian spitting at them. Thorn had thrown a party to celebrate.

When it did happen, citizens were more willing to stand up for them and defend them. Wheeler and Trace came back after a patrol one night practically in tears. Fox assumed they had had a rough night but was surprised when they described how a drunk citizen had started to accost them, grabbing at Wheeler and making like he was going to punch him. And, instead of looking the other way, the citizens banded together to defend them. A bodega owner even ran out with a broom and batted the drunk man away.

Now, most of the Corries stopped by his shop for a bite to eat or to pick up some caf while on patrol. The owner’s business was booming and Fox was happier than he ever thought possible.

There were also other subtle things happening around Coruscant with the guard. When the men were trying to question witnesses or ask for information, people were more willing to come forward. They weren’t as cagey. Sometimes they’d even offer up the information without being asked. Kids no longer hid or ran away crying when they spotted the red and white armor walking through the streets. A few of them had even come up to troopers asking for help, which they were always willing to give. Sometimes the kids just asked questions, though. Again, troopers were usually willing to answer them no matter how ridiculous they were.

A few diners and bakeries had started offering the Corries free or discounted food on their shifts. Their presence could de-escalate a situation instead of making it worse. People trusted them. They liked them. They didn’t treat them like garbage.

Again, this didn’t always happen. There were always going to be people that hated them and thought they shouldn’t be alive. But things were getting better.

Even the senators seemed a little less willing to be abusive!

That didn’t change how Palpatine treated them. He still used and abused the guards like they weren’t living beings. He still made Fox’s life a living hell. He still made the lives of his brothers a living hell. But, something about knowing that the citizens liked them made it easier to handle it. Whenever Palpatine was being particularly cruel, all Fox had to think about was the way a little girl had come up to him with a picture she drew to say thanks (a picture he kept on his desk) and it made the whole experience just a little easier to handle.

And it pissed off Palpatine just a little more.

Only this time, Fox felt empowered by this. Palpatine wasn’t getting the reaction he wanted from him. And that made him angry. And that made Fox stand just a little taller.

Now that he had accepted that Creche to Command was here to stay and here to make changes, he quit fighting his role in the Senate. If Amidala and her cohorts were going to keep coming to him asking questions, if Senators were going to keep showing up at his office trying to donate blankets, then he was going to make the most of it. He was going to seek out ways to improve the lives of the troopers. When he had time, of course.

Sure, he might have to cut his sleep schedule down a bit more, but it was worth it. It was so worth it just to watch another pro-clone bill get passed or hear about a positive interaction with a civilian. His brothers were fighting on the front lines to defend the Republic from Separatists.

It was time for Fox to fight behind the scenes to defend them from Palpatine.

Which was why he was here at the Senate building now with Archer, walking briskly through the halls toward his intended destination. His heart pounded in his chest and his hands felt oddly shaky. He needed to be careful about this. Move cautiously and slowly. Start small and then work his way to something bigger.

He had only been meeting with Amidala for a few weeks. She seemed to like and respect him, but in reality, they were not equals. She held more power over him than she would ever know and he had to be very cognizant of that. There might come a time when he said the wrong thing, pushed for the wrong bill, and cause her to sever her ties with him.

Fluff bills were one thing.

The systemic change was another issue entirely. He had to be careful. And he had to make sure not to draw the ire of Palpatine. He could very easily find himself on the other end of a decommissioning facility if Palpatine caught wind of what he was doing.

“Are you meeting with the senators about the hats?” Archer asked.

“Yes,” he nodded, watching as Hook and Shep left to keep an eye on Palpatine. If Palpatine left his office, they’d let him know and then Archer would help him get out of there before he could get caught. Coming to the senators in a moment of desperation was one thing. Coming when the senators called for him was one thing. Seeking them out purposefully and with a plan was another thing entirely.

“That’s great! It’s the usual group, right?”

“That’s correct,” Fox said, hoping the other senators wandering the halls took no notice of him. Burtoni was back on Coruscant for the week so at least they didn’t have to worry about her.

“You know,” Archer said. He sounded like he was forcing the casual tone. “That Chuchi is really nice to look at.”

Fox furrowed his brow. “Which squad is Chuchi in? Is that the new transfer from Jet’s group?”

“What? No!” Archer facepalmed. “No, she’s not a brother. She’s a senator. Senator Riyo Chuchi. From Pantora. The Pantoran Senator Riyo Chuchi. The one you just had a meeting with about the name bill.”

“Oh, right.” Fox did vaguely remember a Pantoran senator at those meetings. If she was who Archer was referring to, then he was right. She was rather nice to look at. “I should tell you that if you’re looking to date her, that’s strictly prohibited.”

“Not me!” Archer said, making a strangled noise in the back of his throat. “Commander Wolffe was right. You are a lost cause.”

He turned to him; brow still furrowed. “What? What is this about?”

Archer sighed. “Nevermind, sir. Let’s get this meeting over with so you can get some sleep.”

“Sleep is for the weak,” he said. They found one of Senator Amidala’s aides and sent her to tell the senators they had arrived.

While they waited, Archer’s comments about the Pantoran senator bothered him. He needed to nip this in the bud now before things got messy. “Look, Archer, I know Wolffe has slept with half the Senate at this point, but don’t be like Wolffe. He has the opportunity to leave Coruscant. You work directly under these people. It is not a good idea.”

“No, not me! I don’t want to be in a relationship with her.”

“Then tell Sol what I told you.”

Archer groaned. “How are you this good at your job but also this thick?”

The aide came back before Fox had a chance to respond. He’d deal with Archer and/or Sol’s love life later. Right now, he had a bill to amend. Most of the usual suspects were there, but a few key players, mainly Senator Mothma, was missing. No matter, Fox could make do with this group.

He spotted Senator Chuchi sitting next to Amidala. Her cheeks darkened as she smoothed back her hair. She was nice to look at. Archer and/or Sol could probably do worse.

He turned back to the matter at hand. “Senators, thank you for agreeing to meet with me on such short notice.”

“Of course, commander,” Amidala said, smiling at him. “We enjoy speaking with you about trooper issues. Is everything going okay with the naming act? No issues have arisen and the troops like how it’s been set up?”

“No issues, senators,” he took a seat. For a moment, a thrill of fear raced through his body. They didn’t say he could take a seat. He might get in trouble for thinking he even had a place at the table. No one said anything. He continued. “It’s going well and the citizens seem to enjoy reading about the troopers. Apparently, three troopers named Hevy, Droidbait, and Cutup are current favorites. With…” he sighed and vowed to send more live rats to Rex for this one, “Cloney McCloneface—”

Archer snorted.

“Also being a favorite.” He finished.

“That’s wonderful news. I’m so glad we were able to address the issues,” Senator Chuchi said, smiling brightly at him.

That was a nice smile. He should make her smile more often.

“Yes, I wanted to talk to you about the Food Donation Bill, though.”

“Is everything okay with it? You’re still getting plenty of donations, correct?” Organa asked.

“Yes. Particularly from Shili.” Fox grinned. “So many live rats.”

The senators all exchanged confused glances.

“He sends them to Captain Rex as payback for giving him more work,” Archer rushed to explain.

“Oh. Okay then,” Amidala said. She still sounded confused.

Fox’s smile dropped. “I was wondering if we could amend the bill to include other non-food items. Items such as blankets, pillows, socks, soap, shampoos, things like that.”

“We can definitely work on that,” Amidala said. “Any particular reason why?”

“After the last episode, or what I’m assuming was the last episode—”

“Sir, please just watch it. They’re not very long,” Archer groaned.

“At this point, it’s a matter of principle,” he stated. “After the last episode, there has been an uptick in people trying to donate other items to the troops. Knitwear and shaving cream seem to be the big ones.”

“A little old lady gave me a scarf the other day,” Archer beamed. “It’s even in my favorite color.”

“You don’t have a favorite color.”

“I do now and it’s purple.” Archer sniffed. He turned to the senators. “He’s only angry because she gave him an orange hat. He hates orange. And hats. But he is a big fan of the color turquoise. So, write that down. Some nice turquoise gloves. I think he’d like that.”

For some reason, Senator Chuchi nodded and wrote that down.

He turned to look at Archer. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing, sir. Don’t worry about it.”

He felt like he should very much be worrying about it. But one problem at a time. And the current problem he wanted to deal with was Orn Free Taa coming to his office once more crying about how his people were threatening rebellion (again) if he didn’t start donating things (again). Fox wanted him out of his office and as far from him as possible. So he was amending this food donation bill and he was amending it today.

“Apparently, an actress who plays a character named Francesca Delarosa on some soap holo-drama called ‘Romance on the Plains of Naboo’, some woman named Sari Mundalan, has become very outspoken about it.”

“She’s launched a social media campaign and everything,” Archer added.

“You got a famous actress to start speaking out on trooper issues?” Organa asked, surprised.

“Er, yeah. Well, not me. But, she’s speaking out and whatnot. Why? Is that bad?”

“That’s wonderful!” Amidala said. “Stars like that can have a lot of influence over people’s opinions on social justice issues. It takes your visibility to another level. People who don’t watch Creche to Command might still be influenced to take action based on Mundalan’s campaign,” she explained.

Oh. He had no idea something like this was a good thing. “Yes, well, like I said, I want to capitalize on this. Instead of writing a new bill, we can amend the one we already have. It’d pass faster and with the public support, other senators will be more likely to support it.”

“All good points, commander,” Organa said. “Is there anything specific you’d like us to include on it?”

Fox pulled out a datapad and handed it to him. “I already drafted the amendment. As always, feel free to make any adjustments necessary.”

“You are very good at this,” Senator Chuchi said.

That made his heart rate speed up ever so slightly. “Thank you, senator. If that’s all, I need to get back to work.” He stood and went to leave when Senator Amidala called for him.

“Actually, Commander,” she said.

He turned back to her. “Yes, senator?”

She paused and then shook her head. “Never mind. Thank you again for your work. We’ll introduce this to the Senate this week.”

“Of course.”

“Remember, turquoise gloves. If you need hand measurements, just ask. We all have the same hand size,” Archer said.

Fox grabbed his bicep and dragged him out of the room. “What is wrong with you? Is this why you wanted to come along? To ask for gloves?”

“It’s for a good cause!”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

Despite Archer’s strange behavior, Fox left the meeting feeling light. Light and happy. They were figuring this thing out. Figuring out how to help make his brothers’ lives better. Tomorrow he’d send out a chat to the commander asking them what specifically they’d like to see passed in the Senate. Once he had the list, he’d start working on bills and acts, making it as easy as possible for Amidala and the others to introduce them to the Senate.

As much as he hated the extra work, he also couldn’t wait to get started.

*****

Stix wandered the town he and the rest of Green were staying at for a few weeks. They were kind of in limbo at the moment. They weren’t on an active campaign, but there had been sightings of separatist ships in the area. So, they were hanging out. Standing ready just in case the seppies decided to attack.

The system itself was rich in natural resources, particularly the fuel used to power GAR ships, which meant that any attack on the planet could be disastrous for the rest of the fleet. The Senate had decided to keep a battalion stationed there, just in case. To have someone closer who could react quickly if they needed to.

So far nothing had happened and Stix was starting to get very bored. While at first, it was nice to relax and spend a few days not getting shot at, things were starting to get monotonous.

Scouting missions in the morning. Monitor the radar in the afternoon. Then kick around for the evening until it was time to go to bed. Wake up the next morning, rinse, repeat.

He had wandered for the past hour and had now reached the point where sleep sounded like a fun thing to do. Then, he saw an old woman sitting in the town center by the fountain.

She was sewing something.

Stix hesitated, took a step forward, then thought better of it and took a step back. Then he took another step forward. Then another step back. Then he sidled over to the woman, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, craning his neck to watch her work.

Damn, her hands could fly. And they were so steady too. How did she do that funky stitch there in the middle?

“What is it, boy?” she asked, not looking up from her sewing.

Stix winced upon being caught and rubbed the back of his helmet. “Is that sewing?”

She finally looked up at him. “Aye. What’s it to you?”

He hesitated once more before deciding he had nothing to lose. He pulled off his helmet and pulled out the latest head covering he was working on. “What am I doing wrong? I keep trying to make these emergency head coverings for Barriss, our vod’ika but I keep getting them wrong. I’ve only made like three or four good ones. This one’s falling apart at the seams. The last one was too big. The one before that was too small. These things need to stay put on her head during a battle but I can’t seem to get it right.”

She narrowed her eyes and ran a wrinkled, gnarled finger over the fabric. “Why are you using three different types of stitches?”

“There’s more than one type of stitch?”

She muttered something under her breath and then let out a loud whistle. Several old ladies emerged out of the shadows, hobbling towards them.

“Ladies,” she said, “we need to teach this boy how to sew. Come. Sit. You learn.” She grabbed his arm and yanked him down onto the edge of the fountain.

“Oh, look at this fabric! It’s so thin. Maud, go get that nice silk you bought a few years back.”

“And what’s with this needle? Hang on. I’m going to go get my extra sewing travel kit. You’re ripping a hole in the fabric with this needle and your thread is terrible.”

“You can sew all you want, Ethel. I’m getting my knitting supplies. It’s cold on those ships, you know.”

As all the old ladies rushed around, gathering their things, Stix ran his fingers over his pathetic head covering. Well, looks like he had found his afternoon activity! Hopefully, the general and commanders wouldn’t come looking for him.

*****

Barriss had taken Ahsoka’s words to heart and tried to spend more time with the troopers. She was worried they’d be too loud and obnoxious for her tastes and that her attempts to bond with them would only further drive a wedge between them.

They were loud and they could be wild.

But they were also so much more than that.

They were thoughtful, creative, curious, and intelligent individuals. Each with a distinct personality, likes, dislikes, and hobbies. She did get along better with some troopers, but that was to be expected. She didn’t get along well with every padawan or Jedi master, after all.

She loved being around them. More than she thought she would. Her loneliness, which once seeped into her bones like a bitter winter chill, had been chased away. Before, she could spend hours alone on the ship, not talking to a single person, lost in her own thoughts. Now she had hundreds of people she could talk to at any time of the day.

And, they were so respectful of her too. If she didn’t want to talk to them, if she needed time alone to recharge, they’d leave her alone. In fact, she often didn’t need to tell them she wanted to be alone. It was like they could just sense her desires and needs and were more than willing to accommodate her.

It was wonderful.

And when she was around the men, she had the opportunity to not be so stiff and formal. She could laugh with them. Joke with them. Play games with them.

Jester turned out to be a surprisingly difficult opponent for dejarik. She had yet to beat him. Gree assured her that most people had yet to beat him.

The only person on the ship who had?

Master Luminara.

She still wasn’t sure if their relationship was quite the same as Ahsoka’s and her troopers, but it was much better than before.

Which was why she was looking for them now. She had a bit of time before she needed to go meditate. She wanted to see what Gree and the others were up to. However, no matter where she looked on their makeshift base, none of the troopers she was closest to were there.

She tried not to worry. They had probably gone into the village to rest and relax. They deserved it. Prior to this, they had had some difficult campaigns with high casualties.

She went to head towards the village. A thought came to her.

They had had several difficult campaigns with high casualties. Did they want to be around her at the moment? They were still troopers who deserved privacy. Maybe entertaining her was the last thing they wanted right now. Maybe she needed to read their desires and give them space.

“Is everything alright, Barriss?” Master Luminara said.

Barriss hadn’t even heard her approach. “Oh, yes, master. I was wondering where Commander Gree and the others were. I haven’t seen them on the base.”

“I believe I saw them head into the village. We can go check on them. Come.”

“What if they would like to be alone for a bit?”

“Then the village is a poor place to do that. Besides, reach out with the Force and see what they’re feeling. They’re content.”

Barriss did as she was told. Master Luminara was correct. She could feel Gree easiest of all. Sometimes it was like he was a beacon of light in the darkness. Something that called to her and grounded her and kept her turning towards the Light.

She also sensed Spine, Locke, Blackout, and Stix in the village. All of them seemed happy. But also frustrated? It was an odd emotion.

“Come along, Barriss,” Master Luminara said up ahead on the path.

She followed after her, curious as to what her troopers were up to.

“I am glad you are spending more time with the men,” Master Luminara said. “It is good to get to know your troops.”

Right.

Troops.

Soldiers.

Not vode as they referred to one another. Barriss was a Jedi. Jedi did not form attachments. Not even to the men who would give their lives to protect her. Perhaps it was a bad idea to go searching for them.

Once more she felt conflicted between what the Jedi Code allowed and what she wanted. She had tried to see things the way Ahsoka had seen things, but it was hard. She worried that she wasn’t doing this right.

“Is something bothering you, Barriss?”

She hesitated. She did not want Master Luminara to think she was spitting in the face of the Jedi Code. She did not want her master to be disappointed with her. Like a child, she wanted to hide her ill deeds from her, hoping they would go away with enough time and patience. However, she needed guidance. How did she balance being a Jedi, but also wanting to grow closer to her troopers?

“I worry about my attachment to the troopers,” she started carefully. “I know attachments are forbidden as a Jedi, but I can’t help but want to be closer to the men. And I am unsure of how to deal with that.”

Master Luminara stopped walking, brow furrowed. She turned to Barriss. “I am very sorry, my padawan. I have failed as your master.”

“Oh, no! It is I who have failed. I know the rules. I should do a better job of trying to follow them,” Barriss said quickly. She hadn’t meant to blame Master Luminara. She should have never brought it up.

Master Luminara put a hand on her shoulder. “No, I am the one who has failed here. Not you. The term ‘attachment’ is vague and encompasses many different types of relationships. Everyone with the ability to feel empathy has attachments to people. It is inevitable. It is also very beautiful. It is from those attachments that we are able to keep the peace. To solve issues. To grow and understand. It is impossible to get rid of all attachments. You will always find yourself drawn to certain people. And, even if it weren’t impossible, it would be very unhealthy. We need people in our lives we can trust to protect and guide us.”

“I see,” Barriss said.

“The danger comes not from friendship or companionship, but from an unhealthy relationship. An obsessive need to put the well-being of the few above the well-being of the many. Especially as a Force user, you and I have the ability to warp the fabric of our existence. We can twist it in the name of love. Your care for the men is not, in and of itself dangerous. It means you are willing to treat them as people, to protect them as much as possible, and to show them kindness. But, if you formed the kinds of attachments the Jedi Code forbids, then you would be potentially putting the safety and peace of the galaxy at risk.”

“I don’t want Gree or any other trooper to die, though,” she said.

“Nor do I. I don’t wish for anyone to die. But, would you risk an entire village’s safety to keep Commander Gree and the others alive?”

She shook her head.

“And if the men were to die, would you seek revenge? Or use the dark side to try and resurrect them?”

She shook her head once more.

“I am sorry I made you feel as though you were not allowed to care for the men,” Master Luminara continued. “It is okay to care for them. It is okay to form friendships with them. It is okay to grieve when they die and try to protect their lives. But when they die, you have to also let them go without a fight. And you cannot put their safety above the safety of everyone else. Does that make more sense?”

“It does, master. Thank you.”

And it did. She felt clearer about her place with the men, now. More grounded in what was and wasn’t acceptable. She would give her life to try and keep them alive. But if they died, she would not let it consume her. She would let them pass into the Force and continue on with the mission.

Master Luminara smiled at her. “Good. Now, then, let’s see if we can’t find our wayward troops.”

“I do wonder what mischief they’re causing in the village.”

“They are not Master Skywalker or Master Koon’s men. They know better than to cause chaos like that.”

Barriss laughed. “I wouldn’t be so sure. I’m starting to wonder if being chaos-loving is hard-wired into their genes.”

They walked into town, not having far to go before their troopers were spotted at the village square, sprawled out around the fountain along with several older women. Each trooper was working on various craft projects.

“You motherfucking ballsack!” Spine cursed. “I don’t get it, Dorothy-Ruth. I am counting my stitches. How are these all-different lengths?”

The woman, who must have been Dorothy-Ruth, adjusted her glasses and looked at Spine’s lopsided knitted. She smacked him on the back of the head. “Son, you add stitches when you purl. Quit adding stitches.”

“I’m not trying to add stitches! The yarn has a mind of its own.” He cried.

“Show me, then. Show me how you purl.”

“What is going on here?” Master Luminara said.

“Are they… are they knitting?” Barriss asked. “Wait, no, Spine’s knitting. But Locke isn’t and Stix looks like he’s crocheting. What is Gree doing?”

“My grandson wants hair like yours,” another old woman next to Gree said.

Gree had his tongue stuck out as he spun wool into yarn. “Tell him it’s a bitch to deal with. I got to shave like every day to keep it looking like this. And trying to keep it from going lopsided is a pain in my ass.”

“Yes, but you’re so handsome,” another woman next to Locke said. “All you boys are. Handsome young men. I bet the ladies can’t keep their hands off you.”

“Are any of you single?” Another said. “My grandson could use a nice young man like one of you in his life. His last boyfriend was terrible.”

“Oh, I told you, Maud, I told you that nerf-herder was trouble,” Dorothy-Ruth said.

“Okay,” Stix held up what looked like one of Barriss’ emergency head coverings. “Okay, so this is the backstitch, right? And this is the running stitch?”

“Good. Let’s try the ladder stitch now.”

“Oh, but that one looks hard!”

“You want this head covering to look good or do you want it to look like one of Maud’s creations?”

“You shut your mouth, Ethel. We all know the only reason you won this year’s pie contest was because you slept with the judge.”

“There’s a reason you never touched that silk, Maud. We all know it. And I am not letting this young man ruin it either. He learns with the crappy fabric first and then he can use the nice one.”

“This is the same material our blacks are made out of,” Stix said.

Ethel pushed her glasses up on her nose and shook her head. “Back in my day, we actually gave our soldiers good clothes to wear. Sturdy clothes.”

Maud seemed to decide not to pick any more fights with Ethel and turned back to Blackout. “So, you really like that Henri gave up his job as CEO at the end of the book?”

“Of course!” Blackout scoffed. “He’s probably got a shit load of assets so it’s not like they’ll be hurting for money.”

“Yes, but the point of billionaire romances is to be in a romance with a billionaire. If he quits his job, he’s no longer a billionaire.”

“But isn’t it more romantic that he’s willing to give up the money to be with her?”

“Maybe. I’ll add you to the list for next month’s book club. We’re reading ‘A Romance of Two Generals’.”

“Ooh, that one’s been on my list for a while. I’ll definitely be there, Maud.”

Gree finally looked up from his yarn spinning and realized they were there. “Oh, sirs. Hello. Didn’t see you there.” He made a move to stand up.

Master Luminara quickly raised a hand and shook her head. “There is no need, Commander. We were simply wondering where you were.”

“We’re.. we’re here, sir,” he said, looking around at the men.

Master Luminara radiated a calm amusement in the force and had an entertained smile on her lips. “I see. Well, then, Barriss, I’ll leave you to it.” She turned and started walking away.

“Wait, don’t I need to meditate?”

She turned back. “One can find meditation in this form of labor. I encourage you to try. Master Skywalker is actually very good at this sort of meditation.”

“Remember, Spine, the yarn can smell fear!” Dorothy-Ruth shouted. “You can’t show any of it! You show it who’s boss!”

“Listen here, you fucking piece of string, I’ve ripped apart clankers with my bare hands!” Spine shouted, his hands and arms tangled up in the yarn. “I will purl you into a sweater and there’s nothing you can fucking do about it!”

“You tell it, Spine,” Ethel said.

“Of course,” Master Luminara bit back a laugh, “It is easier to meditate when Spine is not threatening yarn. But, it will be a good exercise in how to meditate through distraction.”

It was then that Barriss realized she was giving her permission to spend time with the men. To relax with them. To forgo some of her training now to build these relationships.

“Of course, master. Thank you.”

“I will see you later, then.” Master Luminara turned to walk back towards their makeshift camp.

Locke laughed. “Look at you, Spine. All tangled up.”

“Ne’johaa, vod. My knitting is going to be much better than that piece of shit you’re crocheting.”

“What are you knitting and crocheting? Scarves?” Barriss asked, leaning over to admire Locke’s handiwork. It wasn’t much better than Spine’s.

“Sweaters,” Locke said as a couple of stitches slipped off the hook.

“Why don’t you make the front of the sweater? Then Spine makes the back of the sweater. Then you sew it together?” Stix asked. “Work smarter, not harder.”

Spine and Locke looked at each other.

“You want to, brother?” Spine asked.

“Yeah, I’m down.”

“That’s not how this works. I think,” Gree said.

Not to mention the sweater would look atrocious. Spine was knitting something with bright orange yarn. Locke was knitting something with lime green yarn. The clashing colors made Barriss’s head hurt. She decided not to say anything.

“Less yapping and more yarn making. It’s not going to spin itself, boy.”

“Yes, sir.” Gree rolled his eyes. He looked at her. “You can sit down, Barriss. Don’t have to stand there.”

“Right. Of course.” She hurried and tucked herself next to Gree’s side. He was warm, helping to fight off the evening chill that had settled over the village.

“Harriette, this is our vod’ika Barriss. The one we were telling you about.”

Barriss felt her entire body warm at Gree’s words. He had never referred to her as vod’ika before. At least not out loud. And he said it so casually too. She had heard pretty much everyone in Ahsoka’s battalion refer to her as such and a part of her wondered what it would be like. She understood that Ahsoka’s relationship with her troopers was not the same as Barriss’s and did not want to force something that wasn’t there. But she still wondered.

To hear Gree say it out loud made her happy.

It was one thing to be told she was one of them.

It was one thing to know they had a special protocol for her out in the field and were doing their best to accommodate her need to keep her head covered.

It was another thing entirely to tell the world she was one of them in a language that was worth more to them than anything else.

He didn’t introduce her as a commander or as a padawan. He introduced her as his little sister in Mando’a.

“Oh, this is that lovely young girl all you boys like,” Maud said. “You’re such a lovely thing. So proper. Such good manners.”

“Too skinny,” Ethel shook her head. “You all are too skinny. We’ll eat after we’re done here.”

“That’s okay. You don’t have to,” Barriss said.

“Nonsense. Handiwork, good food, and good friends. Name a better combination.”

“I don’t think I can,” she admitted.

“Hey, Ethel,” Stix said, “I’ve seen some things on the holonet where they like stitch pictures or something into the cloth. Can you show me how to do that?”

“You mean embroidery and cross-stitching? Yeah, I can do that. What do you want to make?”

“I was thinking of a picture of a fist! Cause we crush droids with our fists.”

“Punch any droid and I will kill you,” Spine growled.

“Commander Cody kicked a droid once.”

“Are you Commander Cody?”

Spine deflated.

“Exactly.”

“Hang on,” Locke said, “if Stix is embroidering something on her head coverings then I want to embroider something too. It’s not going to be something stupid like a fist, either. It’s going to be something cool. Like a mythosaur.”

“Wait, I want to embroider something too,” Blackout said.

Gree rolled his eyes and continued spinning yarn.

“You do not wish to embroider anything?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Maybe I’ll embroider a squid for you. How’s that sound?”

She laughed. “That sounds wonderful.”

“You know, kid, once we show back up at the base, all the boys are going to want to embroider something. I’m not sure there’s enough room for all that.”

“That is a good point.” She thought about it for a minute. Then an idea came to her. “Wait, you all are hoping to have one of these with every trooper, right?”

He nodded.

“Then how about they embroider on their own emergency covering? That way everyone has a chance and we don’t have to try and fit it all on just one.”

Gree laughed. “You’re very diplomatic. You know that?”

“Well, someone has to be around here.” She leaned to him a little more, watching as he spun the wool into yarn.

She felt at peace. More at peace than she had in a long time. She was so glad she had talked to Master Luminara about the attachment issue. She would grieve if Gree or any of the others die. A piece of her would be missing and would likely never be replaced. But that wasn’t a bad thing. She would rather have the chance to be a vod to these men even if it was just for a short period of time than cut herself off from the world in fear.

*****

“Wow, that is a lot of boxes,” Rex said as he surveyed the pile they had gotten with the last shipment of donations. Thankfully, Fox seemed to either be getting bored with sending rats to him every month or had run out of rats to send, so this time, Rex didn’t have to worry about that.

Though, knowing Fox, if Shili was no longer donating rats for Ahsoka to hunt, the bastard would probably send the Corries out to the lower levels of Coruscant to catch some themselves.

Note for the future: Have Kix scan all live rats to make sure they didn’t have any diseases.

Speaking of Fox, he had been very busy the last few weeks. He somehow managed to expand the food donation bill so that citizens could also donate other goods to the troops. And it had been a massive hit. Especially with little old ladies who loved to knit and crochet, but were running out of people to foist their handmade goods onto. It seemed like every battalion in the GAR was getting mountains of pillows, quilts, scarves, and—

“So many fuzzy socks!” Denal cried, laughing like a madman as he collapsed into a pile. “My feet will never be cold again!”

“This one says it’s specifically for Tup,” Hardcase said. “Why does he get a special package?”

“Let me open it and see,” Tup said, grabbing it from him and popping open the box.

“What’s it say?” Rex asked.

“Dear Tup, I weep for the state of your hair. Please, never use body soap on it again. It’s longer. Treat it with care. I’ve included shampoo, conditioner, hair oil, a hair mask, and a better comb.” He read aloud.

“Your hair is not that much longer than ours,” Fives scoffed.

“You’re just jealous because you didn’t get a special package,” he laughed. “Sooran, shab! You aren’t going to get your grubby hands on any of it.”

“Whatever, Fives rolled his eyes and began opening up another box. He pulled out some photos, his eyes bugging out of his head. “Oh! Wow!”

“What is it?” Echo asked, craning his neck to look at what Fives had in his hands. “Wow! Is that Sari Mundalan?”

“Yep.”

“She is not wearing any clothes.”

“No, she is not.”

“She is also very flexible.”

Echo and Fives tilted their head to the side, examining the picture.

“Do you think she put her leg in that position herself or did someone help her put it there?” Fives asked.

Rex rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright. Pack it up. You, boys, know the rules.”

Great. Now he was going to have to scan these packages before Ahsoka opened any of them in case more nudes came through. He’d be sure to warn Gree about that later.

Fives reluctantly put the pictures away. “I know. I know. Keep it where Ahsoka won’t find them. We’re not idiots, Captain.”

“I would disagree with that wholeheartedly,” Rex sighed.

“Speaking of Soka,” Jesse said, “I got a hat for her.”

“How do you know it’s for her?” Dogma asked, digging through yet another box and pulling out pallets of razors and shaving cream.

“Because the letter says, “I knitted this a few sizes bigger so her lekku could grow into them.” So, unless one of you has some lekku you’ve been hiding, I’m guessing it’s for the kid,” he said. “Aw, Captain, they knitted your jaig’s eyes on the front. Now you’re matching.”

Rex rolled his eyes.

“Oh, wait, there’s more. Here’s a Republic crest on the left. A five on the right. I think they even got your tattoos on here, Hardcase. Man, they worked hard on this. She’s going to love it.”

Rex knew she would. And he knew how happy she’d be when she learned all the things that had come in with the latest shipment. No more scratchy blankets or thin pillows or medical soaps that made their skin dry.

Comfortable things.

Things Rex wasn’t supposed to care about but found himself desperately longing for. He’d let the men dig through and take their pick. They deserved it. If there was anything left, then he might grab a blanket to two. For now, it was nice just watching his brothers enjoy some soft quilts and knitted sweaters.

*****

Ahsoka could barely hold back a laugh when she saw Barriss’ newest wardrobe choice. “What are you wearing?” she asked.

“A sweater,” Barriss answered diplomatically.

It was probably the weirdest-looking sweater Ahsoka had ever seen. One sleeve was much longer than the other. Barriss had to scrunch it up to use her hands. The hem went past her knees and was lopsided. There were several neck openings to choose from. It seemed like she had tried to choose the one that was closest to the middle, but it wasn’t quite in the middle so it pulled to the side. Several long pieces of thread trailed at various places. The back was an atrocious neon orange color while the front was an equally atrocious lime green. Alone, the colors would have been loud and an assault on the eyes. Together? Ahsoka was having a hard time looking at it.

“Where did you get it?” Barriss had only ever worn black before. Maybe she didn’t know that colors could clash.

“Spine and Locke made it for me. Spine made the back. Locke made the front,” she said, looking down at it. “It’s very warm.”

Oh, then that changed everything. “That’s so cute! See, they care about you.” Ahsoka beamed. It was nice to hear that Barriss was opening up to the troopers and making friends. She seemed brighter than before. Less lonely. Less stiff and formal.

“And I see you got a new hat,” Barriss said.

“Yep!” Ahoska ran her fingers down the soft yarn. “None of my boys made it. It was a donation. But whoever did make it did a great job incorporating their armor markings and tattoos on it. Look, it even has Fives’ little five here his five is!” She turned her head to show it off.

“And Captain Rex’s jaig’s eyes, I see,” Barriss beamed. She pulled out a black cloth. “Speaking of markings, Stix has finally figured out how to sew head coverings in a way where they won’t come off in battle. So now every trooper is embroidering little symbols to mark it as theirs. This is Gree’s. It’s got a little squid on it.”

“That’s so cute. And he’s not half bad. I can at least tell it’s a squid.”

Barriss nodded. “And they just received a shipment of donations. The amount of blankets and pillows and sweaters they’ve gotten is amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them so happy.”

“I know!” Ahsoka’s smile dropped. Her theory had been proven right. She could influence politics with Creche to Command. All it took was one episode, one measly little episode, and people were donating goods in droves.

She had power. But just because she knew she had it now didn’t mean she knew what her next steps were going to be.

“What is it? Is something the matter?” Barriss asked.

“It’s just… I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like it still isn’t enough. These are my brothers. They deserve better.” She rubbed her wrist. It had never bruised, but sometimes, if she closed her eyes and focused on it, she could feel a twinge of pain. “I want to do something to make their lives better. Actually better. But I don’t know what.”

Barriss’ smile also dropped and she tucked away Gree’s head covering. “These things are slow to move, Ahsoka. The first hurdle is simply getting people to view them as, well, people. I know you want it to happen now, but you have to be patient. Their lives are improving. We just need to keep advocating for them.”

“What if isn’t enough, though? What if something happens because I moved too slowly?”

“Did something happen?” Barriss asked.

Not for the first time since the Krell incident did Ahsoka long to tell someone about it. Cody was still the only person who knew. Sometimes, it felt like this great weight pressed on her chest, crushing her and twisting her stomach. Krell had happened. Krell had shattered her view of the world and Jedi and how people treated the troopers. Krell had made them afraid. Had made them into shells of themselves. Had stripped them of all identity.

She hadn’t done enough to stop him. She hadn’t stood up to him enough. She hadn’t pushed back against his treatment enough. She had tried once and then never again.

What if that happened again? What if this series was a chance for her to stand up for their rights but she didn’t do it?

“I… someone used a trooper’s number instead of their name. And we got into an argument over it. The incident shook me. That’s all,” she said.

“Oh," Barriss said. “Have you talked to Master Skywalker or Master Kenobi about it?”

She shook her head.

“Maybe you should. They are there to guide us, after all.”

Ahsoka bit her lip. “I don’t know. I don’t want to make a big fuss about it. I did talk to Cody. He said they could handle it. But… I feel lost.”

“If it is about the troopers’ welfare, you wouldn’t be making a fuss.”

“It feels so small, though. They’re out there dying every day. The number thing is the least of their worries.”

“I suppose that’s a good point,” Barriss said, though she didn’t sound convinced. “Are you sure you don’t want to bring this up to your master? Even if you are making a big fuss, he can help put your mind at ease.”

“I’ll think about it,” she said.

“Alright. But, please, Ahsoka, if something happens, tell someone.”

Her wrist twinged again. “I will.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

They quickly moved on to other topics and Ahsoka was more than happy to let things move away from Krell and the treatment of troopers. Eventually, though, Barriss had to go, and Ahsoka was left alone with her thoughts.

She lay on her bunk for a while longer, staring at the ceiling, tracing the five and Republic crest with her fingers.

“Jesse’s video on droids probably won’t make a big impact on their lives,” she muttered to herself. “But Rex still needs to appear in a video. Maybe I can convince him to talk about some deeper topics.”

She thought it over in her head a bit more. She desperately wanted to sleep, but it was like her brain wouldn’t shut up. Jumping from one topic to the next over and over and over. Circling back, jumping to another one, plummeting into something she only thought about for a few seconds before she moved on.

“I can’t sleep!” she groaned.

She slipped out of bed and back into the hallways. The lights were dimmed for the sleep cycle, but still bright enough for her to see where she was going. Maybe if she walked for a bit that’d get her mind to quiet down.

She shivered as her bare feet hit the floor. Well, this was a failure. The ship was so cold it woke her right back up.

“Maybe I should have grabbed a pair of socks,” she groaned. Other than the hat, which had clearly been made for her even if Fives did try to steal it, she hadn’t taken anything that had been donated. Not socks, blankets, sweaters, soap, or pillows. She wanted to make sure the troopers had everything they wanted and needed.

“Maybe I’ll go stick my feet on Rex’s back. That’ll warm them up,” she muttered to herself.

“There she is,” someone said.

Then, before Ahsoka could react, someone came up behind her and tossed her over her shoulder. She yelped as she fell face-first into a woolen sweater.

“Fives?” She recognized his force signature. The soap thing had started to mess with her head a bit. Everyone smelled different now and she was having a harder time picking up their scents now that they were experimenting with the different soaps. The Force signature remained the same though.

“What are you doing?” She pressed herself up to see Jesse was with them.

“Kidnapping you.” Jesse grinned. “Come on, Fives, before she gets away from you.”

“You don’t need to kidnap me,” she mumbled, flopping back as Fives jogged through the halls. “You can just tell me where you want to go. I can walk, you know.”

“It’s more fun this way. And it’s payback after you pounced on me from the vent last week,” Fives said.

“You deserved it after you convinced me humans could feel pain in their hair and that every time you cut it, you were in excruciating pain!”

Fives chuckled. “It is so much fun to mess with you, you know that?”

“Watch it or I’ll tear a hole in your new sweater with my teeth.”

“You wouldn’t dare, vod’ika.”

He and Jesse made their way to their bunks where Fives practically threw her into a warm, fuzzy pile.

“They got you too?” Rex asked from beside her. He was wearing his blacks save for a pair of fuzzy socks on his feet. They had little anthropomorphic toasts on them.

“Did Fives toss you over his shoulder as well?”

“Group effort with Hardcase and Dogma,” he muttered. He looked down at her feet and sighed. “How many times have I told you if you’re going to wander around the ship, put some socks on.” He pulled off his socks and pulled them onto her feet.

“I was going to stick them on your back,” she muttered.

“I know. Which is why I don’t want you wandering around with bare feet.”

“You take all the fun out of torturing you, Rex. You know that?”

“I do.” He smiled at her.

“What are we doing here anyways?” she asked, looking around. It looked like they had grabbed every blanket and pillow they could get their hands on and made a pile in the center of the bunk.

Fives flopped down next to her and pulled her into his chest. “Cuddling with all the fuzzy shit we go. Gotta put these quilts to good use somehow.”

“It’s like I’m sleeping on a cloud,” Echo said, sprawled out over a pillow. “Is this what comfort feels like?”

Rex rolled his eyes and settled down next to her. “Don’t fight it, vod’ika. Fives is going to cuddle you one way or another.”

“He is a clingy bastard,” Jesse said, flopping down somewhere above him.

Kix let out an ‘oof’, signaling that he was who Jesse had flopped onto. “Says you. You’re the clingiest one out of all of us.”

Denal had curled up somewhere around her feet. “I’m never going to be cold again. That video idea was genius, Sok’ika.”

“Course it was,” Dogma said somewhere behind Rex. “And I now know what it’s like to not have itchy and irritated skin. Smooth like butter.”

She stifled a laugh. The lights dimmed and more blankets and quilts were piled on top of her as more troopers piled into their little blanket nest, chasing away the cold.

Slowly, everyone settle down and their breathing evened out until it was only her and Rex awake.

Rex was gently twisting her padawan beads in his fingers, his body relaxed next to her. He was calm in the force. Content. It made her sleepy and she felt safe here. Like nothing bad would ever happen.

“You doing okay?” he asked softly.

She thought about it for a second and then nodded. “Yeah. You?”

“Yeah. We’re all doing okay.”

She felt like this went deeper than a general ‘how are you today’ question that was simply for small talk. He was trying to tell her that they were fine. All the troopers were fine and safe and here. She let that feeling carry her mind and she drifted off to sleep.

Krell and others like him were still a problem, but she was determined to not let him win. She was determined to make her brothers’ lives better. She still had a lot of work to do, but she was willing to do it.

And it was this thought that carried her into a deep sleep.

*****

CommanderGree has uploaded a photo: A picture of Barriss in an ugly green and orange sweater laying on top of him, fast asleep.

CaptainRex: Congratulations, you’re officially an ori’vod

CommanderGree: How does this make me an official ori’vod?

CaptainRex: When your padawan drools on you, that’s when it’s official. Isn’t that right, @CommanderWolffe?

CommanderWolffe: Ah, the first time Ahsoka drooled all over me, so gross, but so cute.

CommanderGree: I also called her vod’ika out loud.

CommanderBly: Really? Did she freak out?

CommanderGree: No. Didn’t say anything, but she smiled so I think she was okay with it.

CommanderBacara: Y’all are making me jealous that we don’t have padawans to cuddle with. They’d be a perfect size, too!

CaptainRex: Don’t be jealous, trying to keep them alive is a pain in the ass.

CommanderGree: Maybe yours is, vod, but mine is perfect.

CaptainRex: Yours fired a tank underground at a reactor and was buried alive.

CommanderGree: And I still say that’s because yours is a bad influence

CaptainRex: That bad influence is the reason she’s drooling all over you in the first place.

CommanderCody: Alright, alright, break it up. No one’s padawan is a bad influence on anyone else’s padawan.

CommanderJet: @CommanderThire @CommanderStone @CommanderThorn, one of you thank Fox for getting us some halfway decent soap and razors.

CommanderPonds: And don’t forget the pillows! I don’t think I’ve ever slept this good in my life.

CommanderThorn: Will do. We’re busy trying to set him up with Chuchi though.

CommanderBly: Is it working?

CommanderThorn: No. Now he thinks Archer and Sol are trying to get with her.

CommanderThire: We had to attend a training on why we weren’t allowed to sleep with the senators. You were mentioned by name multiple times, @CommanderWolffe.

CommanderBacara: Someone needs to get that man laid.

CommanderWolffe: I told you, he’s a lost cause. Just have them get married and buy a house together. He’ll figure it out in a few years.

CommanderThorn: That’s Plan B, brother.

CommanerGree: I think we’re on Plan Z now.

Chapter Text

Fox was in a good mood for once. He was getting a record two hours of sleep every night. His amendment to the food donation bill had been a huge success both in the Senate and with the civilians. His brothers were happy. He had received a pair of very nice turquoise gloves that kept his hands warm on chilly Coruscant nights. His men were happy. No one had gotten spit on in several weeks. Rex and the 501st weren’t being complete chaotic nightmares. And one day he went a whole thirty minutes without needing caffeine.

This month might actually be the best month he had ever had in his entire life!

He should have known better than to think that.

He should have known better than to assume that this good, calm, happy feeling was going to last.

It all started with an innocent knock on his door.

He was used to people knocking on his door. It felt like everyone constantly needed him. The knock didn’t ruin his day. It was just a fact of life. People knocked on his door.

He looked up to see Thorn, Archer, and Sol all hanging around.

“Sir,” Thorn said, “Senators Amidala and Chuchi are here to see you. Do you have time?”

“Yes, I have time,” he said, putting away a datapad and straightening out his desk to be a bit more presentable.

In reality, he didn’t have time. He never had time. Just because he was having a good month didn’t mean his workload had lessened. If anything, it had grown since he started working as a sort of shadow liaison to the senators.

However, he couldn’t bring himself to tell Thorn to send them away. He didn’t want to be difficult to work with. He couldn’t be difficult to work with. Right now the senators were willing to talk to him about trooper issues because he was accessible to them. They knew he was at their beck and call. The second he started forcing them to rearrange their schedules to accommodate him, he feared it’d be all over.

And he refused to let that happen.

Sometimes, as a Corrie, he felt separated from the rest of his brothers on the front lines.

They were out there dying every day. They were risking their lives every day. They were in danger every day. Meanwhile, a ‘bad day’ for his men involved food getting thrown at them and some drunk neverd that was looking for a fight.

Sometimes he felt like his brothers hated him and the rest of the Corries. They despised their relatively safe existence in the stable Coruscant away from the actual horrors of war. That wasn’t to say there weren’t horrors here. Fox was exposed to them every time Palpatine called on him.

But sometimes he felt guilty for being so far from the front lines. For not having to lose hundreds of men every day and pick back up like it was nothing. For not getting shot only to have a bacta patch slapped on the wound and sent back out on the front lines before it even healed.

It was for this reason he had to keep working with the senators. No matter how much work he had to do. No matter how little sleep he got. No matter how much of an inconvenience it was to drop everything the moment Senator Amidala called. He had to keep working with them. His brothers were sacrificing themselves on the front lines every day for the Republic. The least he could do was sacrifice himself every day for them.

So, unless Coruscant was actively on fire and only he could put it out, he would be at the beck and call of Amidala. He would show up to whatever meeting she requested of him, day or night. He’d give his input on any piece of legislation she put in front of him. He’d help write as many fluff bills as she wanted.

All in the name of his brothers.

“Great,” Thorn said. “I’ll go get them.” He turned to Archer and Sol. “You know what to do.”

“Yes, sir!” They saluted.

“What do you mean?” Fox asked.

Thorn swept away before he could respond and the two troopers entered his office.

“What’s going on? What are you two up to?” he asked.

Sol didn’t answer and immediately started trying to dispose of as many empty caf cups and charger cans as possible. Scooping them all up into a bag to clear a path on the floor.

“Okay, thank you for cleaning my office, I guess,” Fox said.

Archer stepped in front of him. Not cleaning his office. “Sir, can you open your mouth?” he asked.

“What?”

“Please, just do it,” he said.

Fox looked at Sol, who had successfully filled one bag and was currently in the process of trying to open another.

“Please, sir. We promise, there’s a reason for this.”

He furrowed his brow but opened his mouth without argument. Archer sprayed something in it. The minty burn hit the back of his throat and made him cough.

“What the hell was that, Archer?” He wrenched his head away from him. Fuck, that burned.

“Breath freshener,” Archer said.

“Why did you spray breath freshener in my mouth?”

“Cause I don’t think you’ve brushed your teeth in a while. And it’s not attractive to have bad breath.”

“Why do I care about being attractive?”

Archer didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled out a small jar of what looked like gel. He scooped a bit onto his hands and then reached out.

“What are you doing?” Fox cried as he tried to duck out of Archer’s reach.

It didn’t work and soon Archer was running his hands through his hair, doing his best to slick it back. He kept trying to duck out of his way but Archer was a persistent bastard and successfully chased his head around.

“Just trying to give you a new look is all, sir.”

“Why? Is this some sort of joke?”

“No, it’s not,” Sol said. “And we all voted on it. We think you’d look nice with your hair all slicked back.”

“I don’t care what you think. Can you stop? It’s sticky.”

Thankfully, he did stop, wiping the sticky, goopy mess on the side of Fox’s desk. He was going to kill these two. He was actually going to kill these two.

Archer wasn’t done, yet. He pulled out yet another bottle and sprayed it right at Fox.

He once again tried to dodge whatever was going on here. It worked about as well as his attempts to dodge the hair goop. If anything it worked worse as he managed to move through the cloud of whatever the hell Archer was spraying in his office.

“Stop! Stop! What are you doing?” The smell hit him. It was a weird mix of earthy, woodsy notes. “Is that cologne? Are you trying to put cologne on me?”

“Sir, please hold still. It needs to get on your pulse points,” Archer sighed.

“It’s all the rage on Pantora right now,” Sol added. He began filling up yet another bag with empty cups and cans.

Alright. Maybe Dice had a point. Maybe Fox was more than a little addicted to caffeine and should probably be cutting back.

Archer managed to get a huge cloud of cologne right in Fox’s face.

Screw Dice. He had bigger things to worry about.

“Why do I care what cologne they’re wearing on Pantora?” Could he salvage his dignity by jumping out the window?

“No reason.” Archer hummed.

Sol had finally gotten most of the cups and cans stuffed into trash bags. “Shit, they’re coming. I don’t have time to get rid of this stuff!” He cried.

“Hide it under the quilt,” Archer said, finally leaving Fox alone as he rushed over to shove the overstuffed bags in the corner and try (and fail) to drape a donated quilt on top of it.

Fox had had enough. “Get out of here before I hand you off to…” –Shit, who was a hardass commander they wouldn’t want to work with?— “Ponds!”

Ponds wasn’t exactly threatening but it was the only one he could think of at the moment.

“We got to go,” Sol said, not seeming to care about the threat at all. He grabbed Archer’s arm and dragged him out of the office just in time for Senator Amidala and Senator Chuchi to enter with Thorn.

Chuchi immediately started coughing and Amidala put a hand to her mouth.

“What is that smell?” Chuchi asked.

“Sorry, my men are idiots,” Fox growled.

Thorn shook his head and walked past him to open a window. Fox could have sworn he heard him muttering about how he told them to only use a spray or two.

“I see you’re experimenting with a new look,” Amidala said, gesturing to his poorly slicked-back hair.

A glob of hair goop fell off it and landed in the gap between his armor and neck. Rolling down his back. Leaving a sticky, cool trail of slime down his blacks.

“Not of my own free will.” He gritted his teeth and forced himself to smile at them. He’d deal with Archer and Sol later. Right now, he needed to figure out what the senators needed.

“Please, have a seat.” Alright, it was kind of nice that Sol cleared out most of the trash in the office. Maybe he’d just punish Archer. “What can I help you with? Is there a bill you need my input on?”

As much as he did not like the increase in workload, he did like the work itself. He liked giving his input. He liked helping make his brothers’ lives easier. He liked that at least a few senators were listening to him.

“Not exactly, “Amidala said as she sat in the very chair deemed unacceptable for Orn Free Taa.

Chuchi also took a seat. It was then that he realized they were both nervous. Chuchi was needing her hands with her thumbs and Amidala was just a bit too stiff and formal.

Something was wrong.

Almost immediately Fox’s head started spinning with possibilities. What if they had decided to sever ties with him? What if they had decided that getting his input all the time was more work than it was worth? What if he had pushed them too far by seeking them out instead of letting them come to him?

What if Palpatine had found out?

That last one caused a pit to open up in his stomach.

He peered around them, half expecting Palpatine to be there. Lurking. Glowering at him. Eyes burning with hate that sometimes it seemed only Fox could see.

If Palpatine had found out, Fox would be punished severely.

If he were lucky, it’d just be a straight decommissioning. No frills. Just shipped back to Kamino and put down like a wounded animal.

But Palpatine wouldn’t do that. He’d want Fox to know how badly he had fucked up. He would want Fox to feel every single second of punishment. He’d want to make an example of him to all the Corries.

He’d string up his battered and abused corpse for all the men to see.

This is what happens when you step out of line. This is what happens when you start trying to get people to treat you like a person.

He hoped that he would be the only one receiving Palpatine’s wrath. He prayed that the man thought only he was responsible for this insubordination. He begged whatever gods and goddesses there were out in the universe that his brothers were not caught up in Palpatine’s wrath.

“So… Um… that is to say,” Chuchi started rambling.

Fox could barely hear her out of the roar of blood crashing through his ears. He could barely focus on her as his entire body tensed. Fight or flight instincts rearing their ugly head once more. Only, he couldn’t fight or flee. He was a clone at the mercy of Palpatine. There was only ever one option when you were caught in his crosshairs: accept.

Thorn was by his side, stiff as a board as well. To the outside observer, they probably looked the same as always. A little stiff. A little too formal. But otherwise calm and collected.

Fox wasn’t sure what Thorn was thinking, but he knew himself. And he was panicking right now. And he was pretty sure Thorn was panicking as well. Or at the very least nervous. He was picking at the frayed edge of his glove. That’s how Fox could tell he also didn’t know what was going on.

Amidala put a hand on Chuchi’s to stop her rambling.

They looked at each other and nodded.

Amidala turned to him, eyes burning with a passion she usually only reserved for the Senate floor.

She spoke, her voice clear and strong. Every word was distinct and powerful.

“We would like to formally petition the Senate to allow troopers to represent themselves on both the Senate floor and the Kaminoan government under the Special Interest Groups and Internal Sovereign Powers Act.”

Fox would forever be grateful he was already sitting. Had he been standing, his legs would have given out. Thorn had to grab onto the back of his chair to keep himself upright.

His lungs refused to work.

His body felt both all too numb and all too present.

Every muscle was clenched. Flexed. Stiff as his back was ramrod straight and his hands were clasped in front of him so tightly, he wondered if it was possible to break one’s own hands.

The senators were not done yet.

“And we would like you to be the Senate Representative,” Chuchi finished.

Fox’s mind seemed to go blank.

They wanted a clone to be a representative in the government.

They wanted him to be a representative in the government.

They wanted him to speak on behalf of his brothers in an official capacity.

They wanted him to stand in front of all the senators in the Republic and argue with them on bills and acts and politics.

They wanted him to be a representative as if the clones were a people worth representing.

“I don’t understand?” Fox said slowly. His tongue felt numb in his mouth. The words did not feel like his own. Maybe he hadn’t spoken at all. Maybe it was Thorn who had spoken.

“You want me to be a representative?” He could feel his mouth moving. He could feel the vibrations against his vocal cords. He was speaking. It was him.

“That’s correct,” Senator Amidala nodded.

“How do we even qualify for such a thing?” This time, it was Thorn who spoke. He still had the back of Fox’s chair in a vice-like grip. It was likely the only thing keeping him standing at the moment.

“Well, the Special Interest Groups and Internal Sovereign Powers Act was created specifically because in some systems there are groups of people not represented by the government. The gungans on Naboo are the best-known example of this. They have their own government. Own society. Own interests that may not be considered with the human-led government. Other systems have this as well. If there is a particular species not represented in the government, or perhaps a moon colony that requires special consideration. Things like that.”

“And… and we qualify?” Thorn asked.

Fox was very glad his brain still seemed to be working well enough to ask questions. Because Fox couldn’t seem to form words anymore.

“We’ve gone through the requirements,” Chuchi said. “The troopers fit all of them. You’re a specialized group whose government is not representative of you. You have specialized interests that may be overlooked or exploited by your government. You have a distinct culture different from that of the current government. And you have a distinctive role in the Republic and on Kamino that you have no say in. Honestly, the troopers fit the qualifications better than some of the other representatives we recognize.”

Something about this explanation allowed Fox to snap out of his stupor. He shook his head. “What’s wrong with the way we’re doing things now? I’ve been giving my input on bills. Is that enough? I… I don’t get why we need to petition this.”

“The bills we’ve passed with your help are a good start,” Senator Amidala said. “But on our own, we can’t make any big changes. We need you out there advocating for your brothers in an official capacity.”

“You are doing that, though. I’ve seen you arguing for more medical supplies and to cap how young the soldiers can be. You are speaking for us just fine.”

“No, we are not,” Chuchi said. “Neither of us are soldiers or troopers. We can be empathetic. We can listen to your problems. But that will never be enough. And it should never be enough. It is egotistical to assume our empathy would ever be enough to speak for you. You should not have to rely on external help to give you access to basic, sentient rights. You deserve to have your voice heard, your own voice heard, just as much as anyone else in the Republic.”

“Even if we could understand everything you’re going through,” Amidala continued, “we have our own people to worry about. Commander, I know you understand better than anyone that there are only so many hours in the day. We don’t have enough time to represent both troopers and our citizens adequately. We’ve had to start making choices and no one deserves that. No one deserves to be an afterthought.”

He understood what they were saying and he agreed with them. The senators were great, but their disastrous efforts to create a name bill without his help were proof enough that they didn’t fully grasp the position he and his brothers were in. They still didn’t seem to fully understand just how Fox and his brothers were viewed by the Kaminoans and the Republic. Even if public perception had changed, the way society treated the troopers still had a long way to go.

And he understood that this, right here, right now, this wasn’t their job. Amidala was supposed to be looking out for the people of Naboo. Chuchi was supposed to be looking out for the people of Pantora. This was an act of charity more than anything. A gesture of goodwill that could go away in a snap. And it might not even go away because the senators wanted it to. They might be too busy. Or they might decide to step down from their position. Or any number of things that could cause their support to disappear with a snap.

It was stupid to rely solely on their support to get trooper issues discussed in the Senate.

But just because it was stupid didn’t mean that this was the better option. If Fox were to accept their offer and be a representative, he’d be putting himself directly in the line of fire.

He would no longer be an anonymous face in a sea of faces designed to look exactly the same. People would know him. They’d see him. They’d have a name to pin all their hatred on.

Wait.

No.

That wasn’t the issue here.

That was an issue but it wasn’t the main one.

Right now, Fox did everything in his power to keep Palpatine’s wrath focused on him. He did everything he could to protect his brothers. To protect his men. If he were to step out into the light, if he were to make his face known, Palpatine might no longer be able to quietly abuse him. It’d draw too much attention. Fox would be under the severe scrutiny of not only the Senate, but the public as well, and Palpatine could not afford to risk exposing himself to the masses like that.

But Palpatine was not a man who accepted defeat quietly. If Fox was no longer accessible, he’d turn to someone else. And there were a lot of Corries he could turn to.

Thorn.

Thire.

Stone.

Any of them were now in danger of being Palpatine’s new plaything. His new test subject. His new victim. Fox had made the decision long ago to accept his role as Palpatine’s toy. He could not ask the same of his brothers.

He shook his head. “No. No, this… they’re not going to listen to me. I’ll only be one voice.” He tried to be diplomatic about it. To let the senators down easy.

“Sometimes, all it takes is one voice. And you won’t be alone. We’ll be your allies. And you’ll gain more once the senators see you in action.” Amidala was just as stubborn as her stupid husband. He should have known she wasn’t going to back down easily.

“Senator Burtoni and Prime Minister Lama Su are our representatives.” Even as the words left his mouth he knew that was a stupid argument. The whole point of the Special Interest Groups and Internal Sovereign Powers Act was that the current representatives weren’t proper for the special interest group in question.

“Representatives that you did not vote for and have a vested, economic interest in your lives that make them biased towards your care and well-being,” Chuchi said, anger flaring up in her voice. She had had this argument with Burtoni several times.

He had one last argument that he could use. “I am not a politician.”

Surely they had to be aware of this! They had to know that he did not have the background to argue for the rights of his brothers in a hostile senate!

“No one is born a politician,” Amidala said softly.

Fuck.

“I was born a soldier,” he bit out. “I was trained to be a soldier. My skills are shooting things and that’s it.”

“You have more skills than that,” Chuchi said. “Leadership in the way you handle your men. Diplomatic skills, in the way I’ve seen you mediate with politicians. And political skills, in the way you’ve written bills and acts and amendments like it’s second nature to you. You are more than just a soldier, Commander Fox. You all are. And you deserve to be treated as such.”

The earnestness in her voice almost swayed him to agree with them. She believed that he was more than a soldier. And didn’t that make it true? Didn’t that mean he deserved rights?

Maybe he did.

Maybe they all did.

But did they deserve rights at the expense of their safety?

What was more important? Having a senate representative or keeping Palpatine’s eyes off of them?

He shook his head. “No. I’m sorry, senators, but no. I can’t take this on.”

Amidala and Chuchi looked at each other, disappointed. The grip Thorn had on the back of his chair loosened.

The senators stood up.

“Alright, commander,” Amidala said. “We can’t force you and I have no intention of making you do something you’re not comfortable with. But, if you change your mind, please be at the Senate building by eight in the morning tomorrow.”

“Please, I hope you’ll reconsider,” Chuchi said.

As they left the room, Chuchi looked back at him once more before disappearing.

Thorn was silent behind him for several minutes; making no move to leave the room and get back to work. The silence was deafening. Crushing in on him and spinning his head in circles until he felt dizzy and sick. He could practically hear Thorn biting on his tongue to keep from spitting out whatever was on his mind.

He couldn’t take it anymore. “If you want to say something, say it,” he ordered.

Thorn swallowed audibly then walked around and closed the door. It shut them off from the noise of the men. The laughter. The conversations.

He spun around to face him, eyes stormy and jaw clenched.

He said nothing for several more seconds.

Just as Fox was about to order him again, he spoke.

“With all due respect, sir, what the fuck are you doing?” he snarled.

Fox expected vitriol. He expected pushback. But even with that, Thorn’s tone took him aback. He felt as though he had just been slapped.

“What do you mean?”

“We just got the opportunity to advocate for ourselves handed to us on a silver platter and you said no? You turned it down? Who does that?”

“You don’t understand—”

“Then make me understand!” Thorn shouted, slamming his hands down on Fox’s desk.

The rollercoaster of emotions he had been feeling came rushing to the surface. Now that no senators were in the room, he could let loose. He could let his true emotions out. And his true emotions were…. Complicated.

Ecstatic.

Scared.

Stressed.

Angry.

Confused.

And everything in between.

He stood up, shoving his chair to the ground so he could look Thorn in the eye.

“If we push Palpatine too much, he’ll only get worse,” he shouted.

He had to make Thorn understand. He had to make him understand that he wasn’t making this choice willingly. He was trying to protect him. He was trying to protect all of them.

“He’ll despise us for standing up for ourselves,” he continued. “He’ll hate us and when he hates us, he’ll hurt us. And if I’m out on the Senate Floor, if I’ve got all eyes on me, then who do you think he’s going to turn to? Who do you think is going to face his wrath? You! You and everyone else in this building. I made the decision long ago that I would be the one taking on most of Palpatine’s abuse. I know what he’s capable of. I know you think this was handed to us on a silver platter, but it’s not. Even if Amidala and Chuchi are on our side there will be consequences for our actions. Consequences that you have to face. I am not willing to put you through that!”

“You might not, but I am! We all are!”

Fox felt the air leave his lungs and for the second time in the conversation, felt as though Thorn had just slapped him. He gaped like a fish, wanting to argue but not able to find the words.

Thorn let out a sigh, deflating slightly. “Sir,” he said softer, more controlled. “Fox, we don’t get a chance to choose our jobs. We don’t get to choose what unit we’re stationed with. What planet we go to. What brothers we serve with. What beds we sleep in. We didn’t choose to be soldiers. We didn’t choose to be slaves. Our brothers didn’t choose to get sent to the front lines where they die in droves. We didn’t choose to get sent here where we’re used and abused by Palpatine and his favorite senators. We didn’t choose to be born to die. So give us the chance to choose this.”

Fox couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe.

“Let us choose to speak for ourselves. Let us choose to make noise, even if that noise is only through you.” Thorn continued. “Palpatine may get worse. He may hurt us or even kill us for daring to try and make things better. But it’s better to die fighting for our rights than to die as slaves in a war we didn’t choose to fight in for a Republic we didn’t choose to be born in.”

“Then you be the representative,” Fox said softly. “Speak for our brothers. Let me keep taking Palpatine’s wrath. You can be the one in the spotlight.”

Thorn shook his head. “I think it’s time you get a break from Palpatine. Besides, I’m not the one who’s been writing all the bills. I’m not the one who’s been meeting with the senators. I’m not the one they want.”

He sighed once more and straightened up. “We can’t force you. But please, don’t say no because you want to protect us. You can protect us by being our voice. Our brothers are willing to sacrifice themselves to defend the Republic. The Corries are ready to sacrifice ourselves to defend our brothers.”

Fox jolted at his words. The exact same sentiment he had felt earlier repeated back to him. Soft-spoken but powerful the words echoed louder than any bomb he had ever heard.

Thorn left him alone in his office, his head spinning and heart pounding. Never before had he felt so unmoored.

This was completely uncharted territory. There were no orders to follow. No reg manuals to consult. He wasn’t breaking the rules, per se, but he was doing something that would have never been approved by the Kaminoans. Is this what being free felt like? An endless stretch of options before him and the knowledge that whatever decision he made, he’d be the only one to blame for the consequences that followed?

This was no longer a way to get donations to the troops or help give them an identity in death. This was more than that. This was bigger than that.

Fox was about to do something of his own free will.

Yes or no it didn’t matter because as of this moment, he was making the decision on his own.

A decision that would have consequences.

Consequences he didn’t know if he could accept.

*****

Thorn had spent the rest of the night with a bitter taste in his mouth. He had told Thire and Stone what had happened and both agreed with him that they would take whatever Palpatine threw at them if it meant Fox got the opportunity to speak to the Senate. Even if it was only a one-time deal.

However, Fox had made no indication that he was planning on taking Senator Amidala up on her offer. When Thorn had left the night before, Fox was still working away on a stack of paperwork that would never get done.

He thought about maybe sitting all of the commanders down to have another conversation. Maybe this time without shouting and desk slamming. But Stone voted against it.

“He needs time,” he had said as they walked back to the barracks.

“We don’t have time, though. We have until tomorrow at eight. And who knows when we’ll get another opportunity like this.”

“It’s a lot to ask, though,” Thire said. “We’re not just asking him to talk to the Senate once and be done. We’re asking him to fundamentally change how the troopers interact with society. We’re asking him to make choices without a reg manual. We’re asking him to spit in Palpatine’s face. Even if we are willing to sacrifice ourselves for this, that’s still a lot to ask.”

Thorn agreed with them. Even if it did pain him to say it out loud. The thing was, though, he knew Fox wanted to do this. He could see how much happier Fox was working with the senators. How ecstatic he was to be included in the conversation. To have his voice heard even if it was just by a few people.

He could be a really great representative for the troopers. And if he let this opportunity pass, he’d regret it for the rest of his life. But Thorn couldn’t think of a way to make him see that. He couldn’t think of a way to alleviate some of Fox’s fears and the overwhelming uncertainty that came with this uncharted territory.

He had to accept, in the end, it was Fox’s choice. It was Fox’s mistake to make. He just hoped the senators would still allow him to work as some sort of shadow representative. In the background, in clandestine meetings that Palpatine would never know about. It wasn’t the perfect solution, but it was better than nothing.

Thorn stepped into the office the next morning, freezing when he saw Fox pacing back and forth across the main floor where most of the troopers gathered for mission debriefs, reports, and meetings.

He paced from one end of the room, muttering to himself. When he hit the wall (almost literally) he turned on his heels and walked to the other.

Archer was sitting at a desk, watching him. Following his movements back and forth, back and forth.

“How long has he been at this?” Thorn asked.

Fox didn’t normally pace. He sat at his desk for 20 hours before passing out. The fact that he was out here, arguing with himself so early made him worried. But it also gave him hope.

“Since before I got here,” Archer said. “Every once in a while he’ll call out—”

“What time is it?” Fox shouted.

“0740, sir!” Archer replied. He turned back to Thorn. “And then he’ll start pacing again. Do you know why? Has he finally lost it? Do we need to call Commander Cody?”

Thorn furrowed his brow. He couldn’t read Fox’s mind, but he had a pretty good idea as to why he was pacing back and forth. He was considering Amidala’s proposition. Thinking over the benefits and drawbacks. Trying to predict and mitigate the consequences as best as possible. It might actually be a good idea to get some of the other commanders in on this. Maybe if all of them assured Fox that they’d be willing to face Palpatine’s wrath, it’d make his decision a little easier.

They were running out of time, though. The Senate session was set to start in twenty minutes and it would take at least that long to get Fox there. But he had to try.

“Maybe. Watch him. I’m going to see if any of the commanders are available.”

“Yes, sir,” Archer said.

Just as Thorn was about to turn and contact everyone in the GAR for an all-hands-on-deck emergency, Fox let out a strangled cry, grasped his hair in his hands, and rushed to his office.

“Has he finally had a mental breakdown?” Sol asked.

“Or overdosed on caffeine?” Dice added.

“Shit. Maybe.” Alright, change of plans. First Thorn was going to make sure Fox wasn’t doing something stupid like climbing out the window. And then he would call the commanders and have them talk him into being a representative.

Once more, before Thorn could act, Fox rushed back out into the main room. His arms were full of his (or someone’s) greys.

He skidded to a stop in front of Archer. “How fast can you get me to the Senate building?”

Archer snapped to attention. “You said I wasn’t allowed to drive anymore, sir.”

“Yeah, well, I changed my mind. How fast?” He started snapping off the armor pieces on his legs.

Thorn rushed to his side to help get off the rest of the leg pieces so he could pull on the pants.

“Twenty minutes, sir!”

Fox pulled off his gloves with his teeth. “How fast if you drive like you normally do and break the laws of physics and traffic?”

Archer grinned. “I can make it in ten, sir.”

“Great, let’s go. Thorn, you’re in charge until I get back!” He and Archer rushed out of the office. Troopers had to jump out of the way to avoid getting bulldozed.

“You’re still wearing half your armor!”

“I’ll change on way!” He knocked right into Thire, a cup of caf splattering on the ground. But he and Archer just kept going, running out of the building and leaving a stunned trail of silent troopers in their wake.

“What was that about?” Thire asked. “Has he finally lost it?”

Thorn smiled and shook his head. “Nope. He’s going to the Senate. Come on. Let’s start working on his paperwork.”

Thire realized what he was saying and grinned back. “I knew he’d come around.”

*****

Commander Fox: I have made a huge mistake.

CommanderCody: What’d you do?

CommanderCody: Seriously, Fox, what’d you do?

CommanderCody: Okay, you can’t just type that and then not respond. What’s going on?

CommanderCody: @CommanderThire, @CommanderStone, @CommanderThorn what’s going on? Is Fox okay?

CommanderCody: Seriously, one of you call me and tell me why none of you are answering

CommanderCody: Can anyone get ahold of the Corries?

CommanderBly: Nope

CommanderGregor: No luck on my end

CommanderBacara: They’re not answering any of my calls.

CommanderGree: I’m hearing nothing on the comms. No chatter or anything.

CommanderWolffe: Guys, relax. I’m sure it’s fine.

CommanderGregor: Since when has Fox ever been fine?

CommanderWolffe: Fair point. Any news that something’s going down on Coruscant?

CommanderBly: Nothing that I can see.

CommanderCody: Alright, meeting in ten. We need to figure out what’s going on.

*****

Another minute passed.

Now they only had five more to go until eight AM.

Padme sighed. The disappointment had long faded to begrudging acceptance. They had sprung this on him last minute, after all. It wasn’t her fault. This was the only time they had open. A rare occurrence. When she saw they had about an hour today that was completely open, she jumped at the chance, along with Riyo. But, it looked like it would be all for naught.

Commander Fox wasn’t here.

“I’m sorry, senator. I don’t think he’s coming,” Senator Organa said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“I know, I was hoping, though.”

Riyo was beside her, equally disappointed by the outcome. “It is a lot to ask of him. He’d be opening himself up for scrutiny and the Kaminoans probably wouldn’t be very happy about it.”

“Still, I was hoping for a step in the right direction,” she sighed. “Even if they didn’t get representation today, I want their voices to be heard.”

“It’s only been a few weeks since he started working with us,” Senator Mothma said. “Perhaps in a few months, we can bring the issue up again.”

“I’m not sure we’ll have another chance,” Padme said. “This is the first time in nearly a decade that we’ve had an opening in the schedule.”

“We can always petition it formally,” Senator Organa said. “Instead of springing it on the Senate in a surprise attack.”

Riyo shook her head. “Chancellor Palpatine would never let it get to the floor. And Senator Burtoni would likely block it as well.”

“Then we can work with him on a better, more permanent solution,” Senator Mothma said. “After we finish up with our work here, let’s all meet with him again and see what his thoughts are.”

“Of course. It’s better than nothing,” Padme said.

An aide came up to them. “Senators, I believe the session is starting,” she said. “Please, make your way to the floor.”

“Of course, thank you.”

“Change doesn’t happen in a day,” Riyo reminded her. “It takes time, even if we wish it were not so.”

“I understand. We’ll keep looking for other opportunities to better their lives.”

They turned to make their way to their respective booths when a voice cried out from down the hall. “I’m here! I’m here!”

They turned to see Commander Fox and Archer rushing through the corridors. Fox was busy trying to simultaneously strip off his armor and pull on his greys, shoving pieces at Archer. He hopped on one leg, trying to pull on a boot only to faceplant into the carpet. He popped up and finished yanking it on. He practically ripped off the chest piece he was wearing, the back half crashing to the floor as the front half was shoved into Archer’s already full hands.

Senator Mothma picked up the back piece and handed it to the trooper.

“I’m here.” He panted, skidding to a stop in front of them and pulling on the grey jacket. He looked down at them and furrowed his brow. “These aren’t my greys. These are Stone’s.”

“I’m sure no one will notice, sir,” Archer said as what looked to be a piece of armor that went on the bicep clattered to the floor.

“I’ll hurry to put the item on the agenda,” Senator Mothma said, rushing to her booth.

“I’ll prepare opening statements. Senator Organa, can you stall them for a few minutes?”

“Of course,” he nodded and rushed towards his booth.

“Alright, Commander, you’re with me. Come on.” Padme grabbed his arm and led him to her booth. They paused in front of it. She helped him button his jacket correctly and tried to smooth out his hair. It was still crunchy from whatever gel he had put in it yesterday. She’d teach him how to properly style using gel later. For now, they had bigger things to worry about.

“Question,” Archer said, arms still full of armor.

“Yes?” Padme motioned for one of her guards to come to help him.

“What exactly is going on?”

She looked at Fox questioningly.

“I didn’t have time to explain,” he shrugged. He turned to him. “We’re fighting for our rights.”

A little simplistic and not at all-encompassing the magnitude of the situation nor the complexities, but Archer didn’t seem to mind.

He gave him a thumbs up. “Sweet!”

“Archer, you can give the armor to my guard. We’ll keep it safe in my office until the end of the session.”

Archer obliged and dumped the pieces into his waiting hands. “Wait, I get to come with you?”

“Moral support.” Padme smiled at him.

He beamed at her.

Fox fiddled with the sleeves of the jacket, frowning. “Alright, what exactly is going to happen? What do you need me to do?”

She didn’t step into her booth just yet. She wanted to keep Fox and Archer hidden for as long as possible. If Palpatine saw them in her booth, especially with Fox not wearing his armor, he might derail the entire session. She didn’t know how or why, but he was tricky like that. He always seemed to be one step ahead of her. So, if she wanted to get anything done, she needed to blindside him. Wait until the last possible moment to make her move and then pray he didn’t have a contingency plan.

“Senator Mothma and Senator Organa will petition the Senate for an emergency debate. Senator Chuchi will then introduce the bill and explain the legality of it and why we are debating it at all. Then you will have a chance to argue the reason why you and your brothers deserve to be classed as a special interest group eligible for representation. Anyone who wants to argue against you will have the chance to do so. You’ll be asked questions from the senate. After about an hour, we will either vote on the issue today or vote to extend the arguments until the next session,” she explained.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,” Fox said, taking a step back. “I can’t argue this. I thought you were going to argue this.”

Padme shook her head. “Fox, no matter the outcome today, as of this moment, you are the representative for the clone troopers. I cannot argue it for you. I am not your representative. Not anymore. You are. It has to be you.”

“I can’t do this!” He hissed. “I am not a politician. I… I am a soldier, senator. This is not my job. I can’t. I can’t do this. I can’t argue against a senate that doesn’t even see me as human.”

She put a hand on his cheek. “You have more allies than you think.”

He turned away from her, still not convinced.

She took a deep breath and remembered why she wanted to be a senator in the first place. She remembered the drive she had to protect and help her people. The burning need within her soul to make the galaxy a better place for all. The worries and anxieties kept her up at night, screaming at her that she wasn’t doing enough.

“I know this is overwhelming. And I’m so sorry this is the way it has to be,” she started. “But you can do this. You can stand up there and argue for your rights. You may not be successful today. You may not get the representation you want, but you don’t have to win this to change the galaxy. Right now, what you’re doing, being here despite your hesitations, that’s a win. And no matter what happens, no matter how they vote, even if you only get fifteen minutes to speak, that’s fifteen more minutes than you had in the past. And that fifteen minutes can change the course of history. Even if it doesn’t today.”

“I’ve never done this before,” he said softly.

“Remember, no one is born a politician. You become one when you seek to make meaningful changes on a larger scale. And you’ve already proven yourself willing to do this. You’ve already proven yourself capable of this.”

He hesitated, still not convinced. He had likely made a snap decision to come here and was now faced with the consequences of his actions.

She needed to connect with him further. She believed in him, she truly did. She would not have suggested this or even entertained the idea if she didn’t think he had the chance to be successful. She just had to make him see it for himself.

“I know you are used to battles being fought with guns and bombs, but not all battles are violent or loud. Ib’tuur jatne tuur ash’ad, kyr’amur” The words were clumsy and poorly pronounced. She had only heard them a handful of times before. But it did the trick.

He looked up at her. “Today is a good day for someone else to die,” he translated. “I’m not killing anyone, senator.”

“Maybe not literally, but figuratively. You’re killing the view of troopers as we know it. You’re killing all the arguments against your human rights. You’re killing the way this government will move forward with the war. You’re a soldier, Fox. So be a soldier on that floor. Make them see that you are a force to be reckoned with. You have sat with hundreds of senators, and listened to them argue and debate. You are a smart man. I know you can use that experience to fight just like your brothers fight on the front lines.”

Fox looked at Archer.

“Oya?” Archer asked

Fox nodded. “Oya. Let’s do this.”

She breathed a sigh of relief, glad he finally agreed to go out there and fight. She was running out of things to say to him and they did not have time to stall much longer.

They turned to face the senate as the session was called to order. Beside her, Fox was rigid, practically radiating off nerves and anxiety.

Chancellor Palpatine read over Senator Mothma’s last-minute agenda item, brow furrowed. “Senator Mothma, I see you’ve added an emergency vote to the agenda this morning but have not explained what it is or why you’ve called it. This is most unorthodox.”

He was angry. Annoyed that he didn’t have time to prepare for this. Good. Padme wanted him off kilter. She wanted him to struggle.

“Yes, it is, but we have a good reason,” Senator Mothma said. “My colleague, Senator Chuchi from Pantora will introduce the item.”

Before Palpatine had the opportunity to argue, Senator Chuchi’s booth went to the center.

“My esteemed colleagues,” she said in a strong, clear voice. “Pantora, in an effort with the Chandrila, Alderaan, and Naboo Systems, formally petition the Senate to recognize the Clone Troopers as a special interest group eligible for separate representation under the Special Interest Group and Internal Sovereign Power Act.”

Gasps rang out through the senate and several senators started arguing and shouting at the ridiculousness of the notion. Several hundred eyes turned towards Padme’s booth, spotting Fox standing next to her which just caused more commotion.

“Well, this is going well,” Fox muttered.

“They’re dramatic. Give them a chance to calm down,” she whispered back.

“Everyone please, let’s have silence,” Palpatine demanded. As soon as the command went out, the senate settled down. He turned back to Riyo. “My dear senator—”

Fox tensed beside her. She wanted to grab his hand to give him some sort of silent support but didn’t. Right now, all eyes were on them. If Fox appeared weak, even for a moment, they’d pounce on that and rip him to shreds. He had to stand on his own now.

Palpatine continued. “The clones have representation already. Prime Minister Lama Su and Senator Burtoni are their representatives.”

“Representatives that they did not vote for and whose economic interests in their production may have direct and negative impacts on their health and well-being,” Riyo argued. “The point of the Sovereign Powers Act was to give groups not otherwise represented by their governments a voice in both the Senate and on their home worlds.”

“They do not qualify for the special interest protection,” Palpatine said.

“You’re wrong on that, chancellor,” Senator Organa said. “The clone troopers are not the same species as the elected officials. They do not hold any positions of power in the government. They have specialized interests that may be overlooked or exploited by the government. And, as Creche to Command has shown, has a distinct culture different from that of the current government.”

“Not to mention their active participation in the war elevates their status and need for representation. The Kaminoans are not the ones fighting the war, but they are perfectly content to send men to die without even giving them proper names,” Riyo continued.

“We solved the name issue with the Post-Humous Clone Name Act,” Senator Burtoni said.

“An act that only came about after you failed to properly care for the troopers,” Riyo argued.

Senator Burtoni's eyes narrowed. “Senator, I do not like what you are implying. We have a vested interest in doing what is best for the clones.”

“On an economic level,” Riyo replied. “Your interest is tethered to your economy, which, by nature may neglect the health and wellbeing of the troopers. You have voted against at least three bills that would increase the budget for healthcare-related costs because it is more profitable for the Kaminoans to provide new clones to the Republic rather than heal the ones you already have.”

“You do not understand the intricacies of the cloning operation,” Burtoni argued.

“And you do not understand the intricacies of being a trooper.” She shot back. “They are a fundamentally different class of people on Kamino and are treated differently by the government because of that. Therefore, they have the right to special interest representation.”

“Even if you do wish to request representation,” Chancellor Palpatine said, “you would need a clone to be a representative. And I don’t know of any clone with an interest in politics.”

Padme was taken aback by this. Palpatine hadn’t looked their way? He hadn’t noticed Fox standing next to her, ready to argue for his rights. Either he did and didn’t take Fox’s presence seriously, or they had done such a good job at surprising him that he was making little mistakes.

Either way, it didn’t matter. “Now is your time. Ready?” she whispered.

Fox tightened his jaw and nodded. “Yes, sir.”

She directed her booth to the floor. Palpatine had made a mistake. He had allowed an opening for her to formally begin the debate. Before, they were simply debating the merits of introducing this piece of legislation. No doubt he wanted to keep the debate there, with Riyo and Burtoni going back and forth until the hour was up and no conclusions had been reached. But by specifically calling for a clone representative, he had sealed his fate.

“Naboo would formally like to begin the debate for trooper representation. Commander Fox of the Coruscant Guard has volunteered to be the representative for the troopers at the Senate during this debate and moving forward if the motion is passed.”

Something dangerous and ugly flashed in Palpatine’s features. Dark enough to make her shiver and feel as though her lungs were collapsing in on themselves. Her entire body shook with fear and all the failures and thoughts of her inadequacies came flooding back to the surface. What was happening? She had never felt this way on the Senate floor before.

As quickly as it came, though, it left and Palpatine schooled his features back into a neutral face.

“Then I do believe the floor is yours, commander.” The way he said ‘commander’ made it sound almost like a slur. And his voice had a dangerous edge to it.

One that seemed to threaten Fox as he swayed by Padme’s side. He seemed to go pale and she swore he could hear his heart beating against his ribs. For a second, Padme feared he’d back off. He’d say this had all been a big misunderstanding and withdraw the appeal.

He shifted ever so slightly so he was standing more firmly in front of Archer. Then, he straightened up and looked Palpatine in the eye. “Senators, I am Commander Fox, official designation CC-1010 of the Coruscant Guard. I am here to officially petition the special interest representation in both the Senate and the Kaminoan government.”

Though he was addressing the entire Senate, he did not take his eyes off of Palpatine. This was a battle, and right now the enemy was the supreme chancellor.

A ripple of whispers echoed through the crowd, though they did not shout and argue like before.

“What makes you think you are a capable politician? You are a soldier. You were bred for war, not for this,” Palpatine said.

“No one is born a politician,” Fox said, echoing the words Padme had repeated to him time and time again. “And, many of the senators here had other careers before going into politics. Senator Nuei was a banker. Senator Gungri was a soldier, like me. And Senator Waxum was a comedian, of all things. By the way, Senator Waxum, my men enjoy working with you. You always make them laugh.”

Senator Waxum seemed amused by this. “Happy to put my previous career to good use, commander,” he said.

Padme was impressed. Fox was commanding the room and gaining allies in the process. That was a difficult skill to perfect but he made it look so effortless. Padme could see now why he was the leader of the Coruscant Guard, why his men looked to him. And why she had made the right choice in coming to him with this proposition. That small glimmer of hope that this might work was starting to grow. The flames were being fed and even if they were extinguished, no one would forget today. It’d haunt the senators' minds. It’d haunt the war. It’d haunt every interaction they had with a trooper. And that was exactly what she wanted.

Fox turned back to Palpatine. “The clone troopers, as Senator Chuchi stated, are eligible for Special Interest Representation. And I intend to fully follow through with this petition and start the debate.”

“Politics is more difficult than war,” a senator said. “You cannot just shoot things and expect to get your way.”

Fox’s eyes narrowed slightly. “The Senate has already passed one bill, one act, and one amendment that I have written. My name was not on them, true, but the bills were passed in almost their original state. Senators Organa, Mothma, Chuchi, and Amidala can attest to this fact. And, with these three successful pieces of legislation, I have a better track record than many of the senators here.”

Padme winced. So that wasn’t super diplomatic, but they’d work on it.

She’d also have to get in contact with Ahsoka to see if there was any way to get this on Creche to Command, or at least talk about it. One of the most powerful influences in politics was a mass of pissed-off people. And with the amount of coverage the troopers were getting along with the celebrities that had started speaking out on their issues, she could foresee this blowing up in Palpatine’s face.

Just as she came to this conclusion, she realized Archer wasn’t just sitting back and watching Fox argue. He was actually filming the entire exchange. She bit her lip to keep from grinning and to keep from Palpatine realizing what was going on.

She should have known better than to underestimate the troopers. Palpatine might constantly be one step ahead of her, but the troopers were pretty good at that too.

The flames of hope grew bigger.

Fox might just get representation for the troopers after all.

*****

Archer: Hey, @Echo, do you know how to livestream something on C2C?

Echo: Hang on.

Echo has added Tech to the chat.

Echo: @Tech, any ideas?

Tech: Are you recording now?

Archer: Yep. Got it all set up and ready to go.

Tech has added a link to the chat: Livestream directions so simple even Wrecker could follow them

Tech: Just click the link and follow the instructions.

Echo: What are you live streaming?

Archer: Commander Fox being a fucking badass.

*****
Ahsoka was enjoying a rare moment alone in her room. As much as she loved her brothers, they could sometimes be a handful. And there were so many of them that she found herself feeling overwhelmed on more than one occasion.

Thankfully, they tended to be pretty respectful of her need for space and there seemed to be some unspoken rule amongst them that if she was in her room, they shouldn’t bother her unless it was truly necessary.

She was trying to figure out the next steps for Creche to Command. The barracks episode had proven that the series was powerful and far-reaching. Now she just had to figure out a way to extend its reach and influence as far as possible.

She thought about maybe asking Cody if he had any ideas. Or maybe he knew someone else who might be of some help. He was great with larger scale, longer plans with multiple moving parts. There was a reason Master Obi-Wan deferred to his expertise on multiple occasions.

She’d have to wait until Cody was done with his meeting, though. Apparently, something was going on with the Coruscant Guard and the rest of the commanders were freaking out. As curious as she was about the situation, she figured it wasn’t her place to butt in. The troopers were handling this on their own.

Maybe if they handled it successfully, she could use that to petition the senate to allow them to hold higher ranks in the military. She grinned at the thought of General Cody or Admiral Wolffe. Yeah, maybe that should be her next move.

There was a knock at the door.

She furrowed her brow and hopped off her bed. Whoever was on the other side didn’t feel anxious or anything so it wasn’t an emergency.

She opened it to see Echo standing on the other side. “Hey, Echo. What’s up? Want to spar or something?”

Echo snorted. “No thanks. I’d rather keep my dignity for a few days.”

“Come on, you were so close to winning last time.”

He rolled his eyes. “That’s a lie and we both know it. Commander Wolffe did too good of a job in teaching you to fight dirty.”

She grinned. “He’d be so proud to hear you say that. If you’re not here to spar, what’s going on?”

“Archer asked to live stream something on the site. Just thought you should know about it.”

Her grin faltered. “Archer? He’s not one of ours, is he?”

There were a lot of troopers in the 501st and Ahsoka was ashamed to say she didn’t know all of their names. But she knew most of them and Archer didn’t ring a bell.

“He’s not. He’s a Corrie.”

Something in Ahsoka’s head clicked. “Oh, he’s a corrie? Can you tell him to give Rex a call? Everyone is freaking out because Fox dropped a message in the commander’s chat and then disappeared and no one can get ahold of any of them.”

Echo’s brow furrowed. “Wait, is that what the meeting’s about that Rex and Skywalker are at?”

She nodded.

“Hang on, he did say something about Fox being a badass.”

“Well, what’s he streaming?” She hoped it had something to do with Fox’s disappearance. Rex was very much on edge right now and she could tell that Fox’s behavior was out of the norm and a huge cause for concern. If they had some indication as to what was going on, it might help them figure out a plan moving forward.

Echo pulled out a datapad and navigated to the Creche to Command site he and Tech had set up a while ago. While there were the two playlists (Creche to Command and Best Moments of the Gar) there was also a video up, automatically playing on the screen.

Echo’s eyes bugged out of his head when he saw it.

Ahsoka peered over his shoulder, focusing in on the video. “Hang on… is that… is that the Senate?” She’d recognize those grey pods anywhere.

The camera angle itself was kind of bad, but it showed Fox (or who she assumed to be Fox, she had never met him personally) standing in one of the pods.

“Is that Senator Amidala?” Echo asked.

It was. She’d recognize that headdress anywhere.

“What the hell is Fox doing with Senator Amidala?”

“I think he’s calling Orn Free Taa a bitch,” Ahsoka said. “But in a very diplomatic way that would make Master Obi-Wan proud.”

“He’s arguing with the Senate. That’s what he’s doing.” Echo gasped. “That’s… is this even possible?”

She grabbed the datapad. “If Padme is with him, then that means she found a way to make it possible. It looks like Chuchi and Organa are also on the floor.”

“That’s Senator Burtoni,” Echo said, pointing at a very pissed-off-looking Kaminoan. “He’s actually on the Senate floor. They’re listening to him argue on the Senate floor!”

“Come on,” she grabbed his hand. “We got to show Rex and the others this. I don’t know if this will help them solve the problem, but at least we know where Fox is at.”

They took off down the hallway and entered the dimly lit meeting room. Rex, Fives, and Anakin were all standing around the holoprojector while images of Cody, Gree, Doom, Bly, Bacara, and Wolffe shimmered in front of them. She could see Master Obi-Wan, Master Secura, and Master Plo all standing beside their respective commanders, though taking care not to take charge of the situation.

“No one’s been able to get ahold of the Corries still? It’s been almost an hour,” Cody asked.

“No, but I’m on Coruscant,” Doom said. “I’ll head over to the base in a bit.”

“And we’re sure nothing is going on? No bombings? No hostage situations? Everything’s fine?” Wolffe asked.

“Not that I can tell,” Doom said. “There’s no indication that anything’s wrong. I asked the generals and both of them say the Force is pretty… content? I’m not sure if I understood their explanation but they say nothing’s out of place.”

“Comm chatter’s still quiet. Corries haven’t made a sound,” Bacara said.

“Maybe he just deserted,” Gree said.

“Desertion warrants a bit of a reaction, though,” Wolffe said. “Especially since it’s Fox. Out of all of us, he’d be the least likely to desert and I’m pretty sure Coruscant would implode if he left for more than thirty minutes.”

“Well then maybe we’re just overreacting and he went to a spa or something for a break. He really could use one,” Gree replied.

“Oh, yeah, totally an underreaction,” Bly scoffed. “Fox, the most overworked clone in the galaxy, sends Cody a message saying he made a mistake, disappears off the face of Coruscant, and then no one in his group answers our calls for nearly an hour. Totally an overreaction and not at all an indication that something is seriously wrong.”

“Well, if he snapped and bombed the Senate building, I think we’d know about it,” Gree said. “And if all the Corries decided to launch a coup, again, I think we’d know about it.”

Ahsoka decided to put them out of their misery and went up to Rex.

“Not now, vod’ika,” he said quietly.

“No, but I know where Fox is,” she whispered.

He whipped towards her. “Really? How’d you figure it out?”

“Wasn’t me. Archer reached out to Echo.”

Rex turned to Echo. “How long ago was this?”

“About an hour ago, sir,” he said.

“And you didn’t think to tell us?” Bacara cried.

“I didn’t know the Corries had gone AWOL, sir.”

“Okay, so Archer’s alive. But where is Fox?” Wolffe asked.

Ashoka handed Rex the datapad. Predictably, Rex’s reaction was the same as Echo’s. His eyes bugged out of his head and his mouth fell open.

Master Obi-Wan finally stepped forward to give some direction. “Rex, what is it?”

“Well, you’re half-right, Gree. He is at the Senate.” He shared the link with the rest of the commanders and brought it up so all of them could watch it.

“Is that Fox?” Bacara gasped.

“Yep.” Rex nodded, sounding almost numb.

“And he’s on the senate floor?”

“Looks like it.”

“What’s he doing?” Cody asked.

“Besides calling Orn Free Taa a bitch?” Echo said. “It looks like he’s arguing for some sort of clone trooper representation.”

“I didn’t even know that was possible,” Rex said. “We have Burtoni and Lama Su. How would we get more representation?”

“Oh, probably under the Special Interest Group and Internal Sovereign Powers Act,” Fives said casually.

Everyone turned towards him.

“What? I can’t have a hobby?” He crossed his arms and glared at them.

“I expected your hobby to be less… intelligent,” Bly said.

Fives made a rude gesture at him, which was swatted down by Echo.

“I’m sorry, the Sovereign Powers Act? What is that?” Wolffe asked.

“It’s an act that allows for special interest groups to have minimal representation in the senate and system governments. Think the gungans on Naboo,” Fives explained.

“And we qualify?” Doom asked.

Fives thought it over and then shrugged. “Actually, yeah, we do qualify. Huh. Didn’t think of that.”

“Okay, so what does this mean for us?” Cody asked.

“Depends on if Fox convinces the senate to vote yes or not. If they vote yes, we get a representative in the Senate and one in the Kaminoan government. We wouldn’t have the power to make huge decisions but we would be consulted and get at least one vote on relevant issues.”

Cody frowned. “I’m guessing Fox is going to be the Senate Representative, which makes sense since he’s on Coruscant. We’re going to need someone on Kamino, though.”

“We should go with someone stationed there. Blitz and Hammer would be the best options,” Wolffe said.

“I’ll go contact them and see if they’re up to it,” Doom said. “Should I still go over?”

“Head to the Senate and talk to him. Make sure he’s not having a breakdown,” Cody said. “Fives, when can we expect a vote on this issue? And why are you the only one in this room that I’m trusting to know the intricate workings of the Senate?”

“Because I’m smart,” Fives sniffed. “And it depends. They could vote on the issue today or they could delay it indefinitely. We’ll have to wait and see.”

“Alright, let’s plan for the Senate to come to a vote today and get Blitz or Hammer ready to take a position on the Kaminoan parliament. But if it is delayed, Fives, I want you to coordinate with Fox and any senators that are on his side to see how we can push the issue forward. Understood?” Cody said.

“Yes, sir.”

Rex handed Ahsoka back the datapad, everyone watching with rapt attention as the debate raged on. Very clearly, Palpatine was losing his patience. His knuckles were white as he gripped the bar on his pod so tightly, it looked like he wanted to bend it in half.

Fox, on the other hand, seemed perfectly at ease. A little stiff. A little formal. But ultimately relaxed.

“I’m sure there’s some way to compromise on this, commander,” Palpatine said with a slick smile.

Fox narrowed his eyes and responded back without missing a beat. “I’m not sure you understand, chancellor. This is the compromise. Either we get Special Interest Representation, or the Senate forces Kmaino to give us the right to vote and calls for emergency elections for all positions in the Kaminoan government.”

“That’s not much of a compromise.” Another senator argued. “These are the demands of a terrorist! You are being unreasonable.”

Fox didn’t seem phased by his accusations. He remained calm and collected as he spoke the next words. Clear and precise. Like a blaster bolt to the heart. He knew how to fight this battle. “It is a compromise. Either we get representation, or we abandon our posts.”

The entire senate was in an uproar over this.

Palpatine actually seemed pleased with these words.

“You can’t do that!” Senator Burtoni snarled.

Fox remained calm. He was in complete control. “Legally, we can.”

Palpatine’s smile dropped. His face paled and he went back to looking like he wanted to kill Fox with his eyes.

“With what authority?” Burtoni demanded.

“Under the Anti-Slavery Act, we are legally allowed to leave our posts.”

Even Padme seemed surprised by this argument as she whipped towards him, eyes and mouth rounded in shock. Fox held his position. Back straight, chin tilted up in defiance.

“That act only applies to slaves. You are not slaves,” Palpatine said. “You get a stipend.”

“The Anti-Slavery Act defines slavery as ‘any forced labor in which the individual in question did not choose the job and cannot leave the job of their own free will.’ You’ll notice pay is not mentioned anywhere.”

“Holy shit, he’s right,” Fives whispered. “Damn, he did his homework.”

Fox wasn’t done with his argument just yet, though. “Under the Anti-Slavery Act, any sentient persons subjugated to forced labor has the right to abandon their posts or positions without repercussions and will be protected by Republic law from retaliation from their former owners. We, as clones who are owned by the Kamioans, have proven our sentience. I am proving it right now in this Senate hearing. We also did not choose to be soldiers and we cannot leave our duties as soldiers, even if we want to. As such, we have every right to abandon our posts without repercussions and take refuge in any of the 698 systems in the Galactic Republic that offer sanctuary to people fleeing slavery. And, if those systems decide that our freedom is worth less than the war and refuse sanctuary, there are 501 systems in the Alliance of Neutral systems that will be happy to take us in. Including Mandalore.”

More gasps rippled through the senate.

“And,” Fox continued without missing a beat, “if your entire army up and abandons you and joins the Alliance of Neutral Systems, you will not have the firepower necessary to punish them and continue the war with the Separatists.”

Fox let his words sink in while he steadied himself for the next argument.

“Trust me,” he said, “I am not arguing for this because I don’t support the Republic. I am not making these points to scare you. I do support the Republic. All my brothers do. If we didn’t, you’d have mass desertion and more than a handful of dead commanding officers at your feet. We give our lives to defend this government. We fight against the Separatists without hesitation. We are doing everything in our power to bring this war to a close as swiftly as possible. But just because we give our lives to defend your freedom, doesn’t mean we don’t deserve representation. The Kaminoans are biased and do not always have our best interests in mind as sentient beings. Because of that, we deserve the chance to speak for ourselves.”

Senator Lezien from Jonda joined the floor. “My people decided to join the Republic because we felt you treated all your citizens with a basic amount of respected and afforded all of them sentient rights. Is this not true? Do these clearly sentient and intelligent men who can feel pain and sorrow and love not deserve representation simply because of the circumstances of their birth? If they don’t deserve representation because we need them to fight a war, then what other groups are being left out? What other rights can be taken away?”

There was a murmur throughout the Senate.

Senator Mothma also joined the Senate floor. “I have not heard Representative Fox make any indication that the troopers had the desire to leave the military. If that is the case, then what harm could two trooper representatives be?”

“They could do a lot of harm,” Senator Burtoni stated.

Mothma turned to her. “Senator, if you are not confident in your arguments, then having Representative Fox on the Senate floor will not make much of a difference. We have given Special Interest Representation to groups with far less of a claim to it than the troopers and having an actual soldier speaking on the issue of the war would be an invaluable resource for us to have moving forward with our decision making.”

Burtoni looked like she had swallowed a lemon. It was glorious.

When no one else came forth with arguments, Fox spoke. “Once more, I petition the Senate for special representation. I will represent the troopers in the Senate and I request another trooper to represent them in Kaminoan parliament.”

“We will take your words into consideration,” Palpatine said. “We should move on. There are other matters we need to discuss.”

“I call for an immediate vote on the issue,” Senator Organa said.

“There is no need to rush this,” Palpatine replied. “Both sides have made good arguments. We should allow time to think.”

“There is no reason to put it off either,” he argued. “Bureaucracy can move slowly if there is not someone there constantly pushing it forward. I have a feeling most senators have made up their minds already as to how they will vote on the issue. Let’s not waste more of our precious time debating this. As you stated, chancellor, we have other matters we need to discuss. If we do not vote today, this issue will continue to hang over our heads and show the people that we cannot make simple decisions.”

Palpatine glared at him. “Fine. As you wish, senator. All in favor of voting on clone representation after a short recess?”

The votes came in.

“And all opposed?”

The votes came in.

His eyes narrowed even more. “It looks like you’ll have your way, Senator Organa. I call for a thirty-minute recess. We’ll vote for clone representation after.”

Even though he was addressing Senator Organa, he hadn’t taken his eyes off Fox. Fox didn’t break eye contact either. He held that as if they were having another battle. Another war to determine who would break first.

They didn’t get to see who won as the screen went black. Archer must have stopped recording.

“I will say this,” Master Obi-Wan spoke after a beat of silence, “out of all the possibilities, that was not on my list.”

“I… I think I have some calls to make,” Doom said, shutting off his holoprojector.

“We’re pretty sure Fox has this handled, right? No need to freak out anymore?” Wolffe asked.

“Um, yeah. I guess we can mark this as solved,” Cody said.

“Great. See you around, vod.”

One by one all their holoprojectors flicked off until it was just Anakin, Ahsoka, Fives, Echo, and Rex standing in the room.

“I can’t believe that actually just happened,” Fives said. “Like, literally, he was literally on the floor arguing with the senators. That… that should have never happened. It shouldn’t even be possible.”

Anakin clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Well, you guys deserve it. You deserve to be treated as humans.”

Ahsoka threw her arms around Rex’s waist and hugged him tightly. “You guys definitely deserve it.”

Alright, so Fox becoming a politician might change a few things as to how she planned on using Creche to Command. But the goal remained the same. And now that he was on the senate floor arguing with them, now that billions of people across the galaxy had tuned in to see at least a portion of his talk, she had another tool she could use.

Whether the Kaminoans liked it or not, Ahsoka was going to make the Republic recognize her brothers as people.

*****

Fox had his head between his knees, panting like he had just run a marathon in full armor. As soon as he stepped into Amidala’s office, it was like reality had come crashing down around him. The adrenaline that had kept him going throughout the debate had vanished and he was left with all the anxiety and terror he had suppressed.

“You did fantastic,” Amidala said, rubbing his back.

“I hated every minute of that,” he groaned. “I think I’m going to be sick. I changed my mind. I can’t do this. Once was bad enough.”

“I think you did great, sir,” Archer said. “And you’re a real big hit on Creche to Command. We got over a trillion views!”

Fox peeled his head from his knees to look at him. “What do you mean?” As far as he was aware, he had never appeared in an episode of Creche to Command or Wolffe’s stupid short series.

“I live-streamed the debate! We missed some of the opening arguments because I was trying to get the tech stuff all setup, but I got most of it.” He grinned.

Fox looked to Amidala. “Are we allowed to do that?”

“Technically, all debates on the senate floor are open to the public,” She said. “But something tells me more people are watching Creche to Command than R-SPAN.”

“Like I said, over a billion views,” Archer said. “And a lot of people chiming in on the chat. Most people were super supportive. A few weren’t but what are you going to do? And then a fair bit of them were about how handsome you were.”

Fox groaned and collapsed back into his knees. “Don’t ever live-stream me again.”

“Fine,” Archer sighed.

“Actually, that might be a bad idea,” Amidala said.

“What do you mean?”

“With the live stream, more people were made immediately aware of this issue and now they’re calling their representatives. My aides have gotten at least a hundred calls in the last fifteen minutes voicing whether they want me to vote for or against the legislation.”

“And how does that help us?”

“The reason for the debate isn’t to convince people who have already made up their minds. It’s to convince those who haven’t,” she explained. “You’ve got two things going for you in this instance. The fact that Senator Lezien has shown her support openly is a huge boost. People may not care about troopers’ rights, but they do understand the importance of having Jonda as an ally. So, they’ll vote in line with her to keep her happy.”

“And the call-ins from citizens?” Fox asked.

“If a senator realizes this is a huge issue for their constituents and they don’t have much to lose by passing the legislation, they might vote in line with what their people want. It’s an easy way to drum up further support, especially during re-election season. They can easily point to this as an example of a time they listened to their people.”

Fox groaned. All this talk of politics was making his head hurt. Why did they have to play so many games with each other? Didn’t they all want the same thing?

No, scratch that. He had been around senators enough to know some people (like Amidala and Chuchi) wanted to make lives better for their citizens. While others (like Orn Free Taa) simply wanted a cushy position of power so they could expand their wealth. Orn Free Taa was likely one of those people that would be swayed by his constituents, not because he agreed with their arguments, but because he wanted to placate them so he could stay in power. Fox hated that. He hated the corruption. He hated the system. And now he was a part of it. Or, trying to be at least.

Was that going to happen to him?

Was he going to start making decisions not because he thought they were the right things to do but because he wanted to hold onto power for just a little longer?

Amidala’s hand was back on his shoulders, a soothing, grounding gesture that tethered his mind back to reality.

“Trust me, commander, you did great. Even if you don’t get the position, you spoke well for your brothers.”

He didn’t feel like he did great. He felt like his arguments were rambling messes that only sought to confuse rather than explain. Half the time he wasn’t even sure if his words were true or if he was simply jumping to wild conclusions while the Senate laughed behind his back at his ineptitude.

There was a knock at the door. One of Amidala’s guards stepped in. “Clone Commander Doom is here to see you,” he said.

“Wow, what a name,” Amidala said.

“Doom? What’s he doing here?” Fox said, furrowing his brow and sitting up to look towards the door.

“We’re available to see him,” Amidala said.

Doom stepped into the room, took one look at Fox, and let out a whistle. “You look like shit, Fox. Are those Stone’s greys? Don’t you have your own?”

Fox groaned and collapsed back into his knees. “What do you want? Can’t you see I’m in the middle of an internal crisis?”

Doom stepped forward to ruffle his hair, only to make a face and pull his hand away. “What is all crusty in your hair? Never mind, I don’t want to know. I’m here because you whipped Cody and the others into a frenzy.”

“They’re being dramatic,” Fox said, rolling his eyes.

“You messaged Cody that you made a huge mistake and then didn’t answer for over an hour. And then, to top it all off, we couldn’t get in contact with any of the other Corries. Stone, Thorn, and Thire weren’t answering any of our calls. Bly thought you snapped and decided to bomb the Senate building and Gree thought you had just up and abandoned your post.”

“I wish. It’d be less of a headache and I wouldn’t have to talk to Orn Free Taa.”

Doom snickered. “Yeah well, it was only thanks to Ahsoka and Echo we even knew where you were.” He turned to Archer. “And you, I guess, since you’re the only Corrie that reached out.”

“Sorry, sir,” Archer winced. “We didn’t realize we had caused such a stir.”

“Yeah, well, you definitely did.” He clapped a hand on his shoulder. “We’re proud of you, brother. Sticking up for us like that. Palpatine looked like he was about to pop and Burtoni looked even more pissed than usual. The video’s making its rounds around the GAR. I reckon by the end of the day, every trooper will have seen it.”

Fox slid off the chair and curled up on the floor. “Kill me now, please.”

“Don’t worry,” Archer said. “That’s just the caffeine withdrawal talking. He usually doesn’t go more than an hour without drinking at least four caffeinated beverages.”

“Right,” Doom said, wincing. He turned back to Fox. “Um, so I guess I should tell you I got ahold of Blitz and Hammer. One of them would be willing to take on the Kaminoan parliament if we get this. They’re already stationed on Kamino and everything so we figured that’d be easier than trying to get someone reassigned.”

Fox just grunted in response. Amidala seemed hopeful that they would get them so Fox had hope as well. Even if the last thing he wanted was to spend more time with a group of people he despised. Though, there was one kink in the plan.

“Senator, theoretically, if one of my theoretical brothers were to theoretically have had sex with a handful of senators, how would that impact the vote? Theoretically.”

Doom laughed. “Yeah, good point.”

Amidala’s brow furrowed. “Um… I guess theoretically were the senators satisfied with their experience?”

“I have no idea,” Fox growled. He had made it his mission to stay as far away from that mess as he could.

Doom shrugged. “I haven’t heard any complaints yet and considering most of them have seen him multiple times, I’m going to go with they were very satisfied.”

“Seriously, Archer, kill me now. Gun to the back of my head. Please. That’s an order.”

“No can do, sir.”

“Then it might actually help,” Amidala continued. “It’s a little corrupt and does implicate bias, but—”

“Most of the Senate is corrupt so at least it isn’t a bribe,” Doom finished for her.

“Er, yes. More or less. Theoretically, which brother are we talking about?”

“Commander Wolffe.”

“Wolffe.”

“It’s always fucking Wolffe.”

She pressed a hand to her mouth to try and hide her smile. “I guess that explains why I see him leaving Senator Trazon’s chambers all the time.”

“I didn’t know about Trazon.” Doom let out a whistle.

“I hate him so much.”

“Trazon or Wolffe?”

Fox glared at him.

There was a knock at the door, signaling that their recess was over. It was time for the vote.

“Alright, commander, it’s time for us to get back out on the floor,” Amidala said. “You’re almost done.”

“Let Archer go instead. They won’t know the difference.”

Doom hooked his hands underneath his armpits and hauled him off the ground. “Nope. None of that, vod. Go finish what you started. Oya!”

“Oya!” Archer replied cheerfully.

They were only cheerful because they weren’t the ones trying to become a politician. Doom was going to go back to the front lines and Archer was going to go back to doing whatever his job was with the Guard. And Fox? Fox was either going to walk out of here a representative or walk out of here with a very large target painted on his back.

Maybe even both!

This was a mistake.

This was a huge mistake.

He shouldn’t even be here! He had paperwork to do! Who was going to do that if he was here?

The thoughts circled his mind as they walked back to Amidala’s booth and entered the Senate floor.

Doom hung back in the hallway, offering one final thumbs-up before the session was called back into order.

“Is everyone back from recess?” Chancellor Palpatine said.

He looked much more put together than he had earlier. Fox shrank back slightly to avoid his gaze. Thankfully, he didn’t look their way.

“Very well,” he continued. “There are three options to vote on. Everyone must vote once. Option A: The clones get special representation and have a clone representative in the Senate and in the Kaminoan Parliament. Option B: The Kaminoans will be required to give all clones of biological age 18 the right to vote and emergency elections will be held within the month to allow clones the chance for what they deem as adequate representation. Option C: The clones will not be given representation and the Kaminoans will not be forced to give them the right to vote. Please, place your votes now.”

Fox watched as Amidala went to the pad in her booth. For a moment, she hesitated over the options. He held his breath, watching as she finally decided on Option A. Vote cast, she stepped back and they waited.

It felt like hours had passed as one by one the votes came in. Maybe hours did pass. All Fox knew was that he was rigid in his place. Unmoving and unwavering. His eyes straight ahead staring at nothing as his mind raced with uncertainty over what the future held.

Finally, the last vote was cast.

Palpatine read the results. Fox could tell immediately from the way his jaw tightened that he did not like them. Option A or B had won. And he celebrated. Internally, of course. They had won. No matter what the outcome, they had succeeded in one way or another.

He remained at parade rest, breath held as he waited for the chancellor to formally announce the results.

Palpatine finally turned towards Amidala’s booth, looking at him for the first time since the debate. His eyes were dark and stormy. His posture screamed that retribution would be had one way or another.

Fox did not cower.

Even if he wanted to bow his head and avert his eyes, he couldn’t. His body was too tense. He felt like a tree. Unable to bend or move in the howling wind.

“Congratulations, commander,” Palpatine’s voice was the only thing he heard echoing through the Senate. Everyone else was silent. It didn’t even sound like people were breathing. “As of today, clones are officially recognized as a special interest group eligible for representation.”

If he wanted to say anything else, he didn’t get a chance to. The thunderous applause and cheers echoed through the chamber, drowning out all other noise. Fox himself was almost numb. In shock, as he expected Palpatine to pull the rug out from underneath him and declare it was all a joke.

That he had actually lost and was to report immediately to Kamino for decommissioning.

But it wasn’t a joke.

They had representation.

He was their representation.

Oh god, he was going to have to spend more time with the senators, wasn’t he?

He was right in sending Cody that message earlier. He had made a huge mistake.

*****

Episode 9: How to Defeat Clankers with Jesse! (no, you can’t punch them)

“Hey guys, welcome back to Creche to Command!” Ahsoka said brightly while Jesse moved about in the background.

They seemed to be in one of the sparring rooms. Jesse was dragging something across the ground, something heavy and metal. Though, the audience couldn’t tell what it was.

“I’m back once more with fan-favorite, Jesse.” Ahsoka continued.

Jesse dropped whatever he was dragging and turned back to the camera. “Yeah, I hear I almost won some sort of ‘hottest trooper’ senate poll before Commander Cody stole my victory from me! All because of a stupid love confession Fives didn’t even write.”

“Now, now, Jesse, no need to be petty. Commander Cody works hard. He deserves to win a poll.”

Jesse grumbled a series of complaints but went back to dragging the things across the ground.

“Speaking of the Senate, I’m super excited to announce we have a new series. ‘Fox Talks’! A live stream where you can listen to Representative Fox talk about senate issues with the senate. Isn’t that so exciting?”

“Is he Representative Fox or Commander Fox? Commander Cody was unclear during the briefing.”

Ahsoka shrugged. “I don’t really care. I’m probably never going to come face-to-face with him. But, for all our viewers, be sure to be on the lookout for ‘Fox Talks’ live streams. And if you can’t make a stream, don’t worry. We’ll upload it all to the archive so you can get a sense of what’s going on. At least on the trooper side of things.”

Jesse finally finished up his metal dragging and came to sit next to her. “Just to be clear, we didn’t name the series. The Corries did. Which is why the title sucks.”

She swatted his shoulder. “Be nice.”

“What? It is lame. ‘Fox Talks’. Who thought that was a good idea?” he scoffed. “And does Commander and/or Representative Fox even know he’s going to be recorded every time he’s on the floor? I’ve heard from a few of the Corries he’s not always the most observant.”

“Regardless of the stupid name or the fact that Representative Fox probably isn’t aware he’s being recorded—”

“See, even you admit it’s stupid.”

“A lot of people were very interested in the last live stream the Corries did. And Senator Amidala thinks it’s a great idea! She loves it when the citizens are informed of what’s going on with their governments.”

“Sounds super interesting,” Jesse said, rolling his eyes. “Vod’ika, no one is here to listen to use chatter on about politics. They’re here to see what we do best. Destroy battle droids and look super badass while doing it.”

Ahsoka shook her head fondly. “Yes, yes. You’ve wanted to teach the initiates the best ways to beat up droids since we started the series.”

“The baby Jedi must master the art of destroying clankers. I mean, I know Commander Wolffe has his series about our cool battlefield moments, but you should also know how to take them out simply. After all, not everyone can do that sick backflip I did off a speeder the other day.”

“We’ve been over this, Jesse. It’s not a backflip if you crash and go flying through the air.”

He clasped a hand over her mouth. “Shut up! No one knows the context.”

She licked his hand.

“Ugh! You licked me! That’s disgusting.”

She laughed. “You deserved it and you know it.”

“I’ll get back at you, Tano. Just you wait. Fives is looking for ways to mess with you. You know if we team up there’s no stopping us.”

“I’m quaking in my boots,” she rolled her eyes. “Onto how to defeat clankers. First and foremost, we should start by saying no matter what you aren’t allowed to punch them.”

“Yeah, the medics get their blacks in a twist whenever someone punches them,” Jesse scoffed.

“For good reason!” Kix cried, coming into frame. “You are made of flesh and bone. They are made of steel. You will break your hand.”

Jesse crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

“In fact, you have broken your hand! Several times. And yet, you insist on continuing to punch them!”

“Because it looks sick as hell,” Jesse said. “Besides, Commander Cody once kicked the head off a clanker.”

“Are you Commander Cody?” Kix glared at him.

“We share the same genetic profile.”

Kix leaned in close. “You are not Commander Cody,” he hissed before pulling back. “Besides, Helix and Cas also don’t like that he kicks the heads off of clankers either. You’re outmatched on this one, vod. All the medics unanimously agree that no one is allowed to use their body to punch, kick, or body slam any droid.”

Ahsoka snickered.

“And why are you laughing, ner ad’ika?”

This time, it was Jesse’s turn to snicker. “Ooh, you’re in trouble.”

“Come on, Kix, I’m not as bad as Jesse.”

“That’s like saying getting your hand blown off isn’t as bad as getting your leg blown off. Last battle you had Hardcase chuck you into a mass of clankers.”

“Yeah, probably not your best move,” Jesse said. “Thought the general and the captain were going to have heart attacks.”

“I was fine!”

Kix turned to the camera. “I don’t care what they tell you for the rest of this video. No one. Is. Allowed. To. Punch. Kick. Or Bodyslam. A. Droid. Is that clear?”

“Yeah, yeah. Come on, go.” Jesse said, pushing Kix out of the frame. “You’re killing the vibe here with all your medical talk. We’re here to discuss sweet-ass battle strategies.”

“I outrank all of you in medical matters!” Kix shouted.

“Not on Creche to Command you don’t.”

“Sorry, Kix. He’s right.” Ahsoka shrugged. “Alright, let’s get started.”

She bent over and pulled up a B1-series battle droid. So that’s what Jesse had been dragging across the floor.

“Alright, Fives ripped all his wiring out so he won’t be waking up any time real soon,” Ahsoka said. “These are just for demonstration purposes. This is a B1-series battle droid. They’re the ones you’ll see most on the battlefield.”

“They’re also dumb as hell,” Jesse said. “That’s not even a joke or a jab at the Seppies. Even they’ll admit these things are stupid.”

“One time, Rex managed to buy some time by telling a group of them that they were outnumbered. The droid started actually counting which allowed Master Obi-Wan the chance to swoop in and save the day,” she laughed.

“Another time, I literally got the upper hand on one of these suckers by saying, ‘look behind you!’. The clanker actually turned around and looked.”

“Or how about that one-time Fives just walked in a circle around one? The B1 kept trying to shoot him and instead took out the rest of his squad,” Ahsoka said.

“That was brilliant.” Jesse agreed.

“So you might be wondering, if they’re so stupid, how are they dangerous? Well, what makes them deadly is there are so many of them. It’s like killing ants. Individually, they aren’t much of a threat. But get a big group of them together and you’ve got yourself a problem.”

“The best way to deal with them is simply to sow the seeds of chaos. Tell them confusing things, even if you think it’s stupid, and watch as their circuitry gets fried. They’re easy to distract so wait until their backs are turned and take ‘em out.”

“Of course, full-frontal assault also works,” Ahsoka said. “They go down pretty easily with blaster fire and their armor isn’t the thickest.”

“Unlike these bad boys,” Jesse said, hauling up a much larger droid that was all grey. And also missing an arm.

“This one was a little harder to take down,” Ahsoka said. “And find one that was mostly in one piece.”

“Yeah, usually we let the Jedi handle these guys,” Jesse added. “These are super battle droids. Or B2-series.”

“They aren’t as intelligent as the B1s,” Ahsoka said.

Jesse snorted. “If you can call the B1s ‘intelligent’.”

She rolled her eyes. “What I mean is that they aren’t free thinkers. They don’t have AI that allows for complex strategies. They have one directive and one directive only. March forward and shoot. The B1s can make more complex decisions independently from a tactical droid or living commander. The B2s are basically just tanks.”

“They are also much harder to take out with a blaster,” Jesse said. “Their armor is thicker so it takes more shots to take them down. Which is why we pass them off to the Jedi.”

“The troopers take care of the B1s, we take care of the B2s,” Ahsoka said.

“They do have one major weakness, though. They’re very stiff. The B1s can step over and around obstacles. They can twist and look behind their shoulders. They can point their blasters in different directions. These guys can’t. At least not to the same extent. One sturdy rope pulled taut at just the right height will have them stumbling and falling. And they can’t get back up.”

“And because their arms are stiff and they don’t have the range of motion in their backs, it’s pretty easy to get close to them and then just avoid their blasters,” Ahsoka said.

“But, like we said, they’re much harder to take down. And while one might not be a problem, get a big enough group together and it’s harder to avoid the blasters,” Jesse said.

“Alright, next up, the worst ones in my opinion, droidekas,” she said, hoisting up two halves of a droid. She winced as a part clattered to the ground. “Sorry, unlike the other droids, we couldn’t actually find one on the battlefield that was in one piece. Master Anakin tried to weld it back together for us but….”

“It came back to life and nearly took out the ship,” Jesse said. “Hence why everything else has their wiring all ripped out. Anyways, we call these guys rollies.”

“Don’t let the cute name fool you,” Ahsoka said, glaring at the destroyed remains of the droideka. “These guys are awful. They come with their own little shield that doesn’t let blaster fire in but definitely lets it out. And they can roll up to 75 kilometers per hour.”

“You can get through the shield if you’re careful,” Jesse said. “Captain Rex has done it a few times. But it only works if they’re distracted and you move very carefully. The best way to get rid of them is to get them rolling and then either blast them or cut ‘em apart. They can’t roll and generate their shield.”

Ahsoka nodded. “I still don’t like them. Like the B2s they aren’t very tactical. They follow the directives of whoever is in charge. But the very presence of the shield makes them so hard to deal with.”

She dropped the destroyed droid with disgust. “Alright, last up for today, a tactical droid.”

Jesse pulled up only the head. “Um… yeah. We left the body behind. Sorry. It was… kind of under the destroyed remains of a tank and we didn’t feel like trying to remove it since the remains would have been—”

“Completely pulverized?”

He nodded. “Completely pulverized.”

“Like he said, this is a tactical droid. Or, at least it’s the head of a tactical droid.” Ahsoka explained. “They’re the ones giving orders. As the name implies, they’re tacticians that help direct the rest of the troops. They’re much smarter than basically any droid. But they often aren’t firing a blaster at you. They’ll be hanging out towards the back or in a tank, away from the action.”

“Which is why if you see one, it’s imperative you get rid of it first,” Jesse said. “Get rid of a tactical droid and everything else will fall apart. Same as if you were to get rid of a flesh and blood general. The B1s will start arguing about who’s in charge. The B2s and rollies will just start firing at anything that moves without reason. And the chaos makes it much easier to take out the rest of the army. Get rid of the tactical droid, and you have a much better chance of winning.”

Ahsoka nodded. “Also, tactical droids can be great for gathering intel. They operate on a much larger system and are often connected to other bases to get their orders. This is why we try to take the heads after every battle. They’ve got a lot of information stored in their heads that could be useful in figuring out all sorts of things.”

“Separatist base locations, what they know about Republic forces, upcoming campaigns. Even the names of generals and commanding officers that we might have some intel on,” Jesse listed.

“Exactly. Well, those are all the droids we had for today. Anything else, Jesse?”

He shook his head. “There are more clankers you’ll run into. Commandos, assassin droids, spider droids, things like that. But these are the main ones you’ll be dealing with on the battlefield.”

“More importantly, these were the ones we dealt with during our last battle so this is what you get,” Ahsoka said. “I hope that helps give everyone an idea of how to deal with the enemy. See you guys next time and be sure to catch ‘Fox Talks’!”

Jesse shook his head. “Still say that’s a stupid name.”

Ahsoka simply laughed. “Bye, guys.”

*****

Ki-Adi-Mundi was exhausted. It was the sort of exhaustion that one could feel in their very soul. A bone-deep exhaustion that didn’t go away even after a night’s rest.

It had started when the war had started. And he had a feeling it wouldn’t go away until the war went away.

Many things contributed to this exhaustion. It was the constant, frenetic motion that came with an adrenaline-soaked battlefield. It was hopping from one planet to the next with hardly a day's rest in between. It was the gnawing fear in the back of one’s mind even when he was far from the sweat and dust and blood of the battlefield that even though he was experiencing peace now, it would be ripped away from him in a few days as he hopped back on a ship to head to the next battlefield.

It was a lot of things that slowly wore him down.

He knew his men were feeling it too. Bacara would never complain outwardly, but he had grown less aggressive as time went on. The circles under his eyes grew deeper and darker as his sleep schedule became more erratic. The lines on his face grew in number not only due to his accelerated aging but also due to stress and trauma. There was a hollowness in the way he filled out reports that listed the dead. A hollowness that could only come from having to experience the pain of loss so many times, it no longer phased him.

Ki-Adi-Mundi hated it. As much as he wanted a rest, as much as he was desperate for a rest, it was his men he was more worried about. He would give anything to give them a break. Just this once. A few days for them to sleep off the stress and trauma of battle. A few days to mourn their lost brothers properly. A few days to shower and enjoy some of the new socks they had received without the shadow of the next battle stretching over them. A constant presence that hung heavy with the silent acknowledgment that at least a few of them would not make it to see the end of the next month. The next week. The next day. The next hour. The next minute.

But, alas, war waited for no one. War did not stop for any one man. War did not care how tired and exhausted the troops were. War did not care about their grief and trauma. War demanded constant action.

And constant action is what Ki-Adi-Mundi and his troops gave it.

“Alright, the clankers should be just over this ridge,” Bacara said, reviewing the intel report submitted by a scouting team a few hours prior. “They’ve got a village sitting directly in their line of fire.”

“No doubt a tactic to stay our hand,” Ki-Adi-Mundi said. “I don’t suppose we can have you lead a larger squad of men from the west to draw their fire away from the village. Then Commander Jet can lead a smaller squad to evacuate the village.”

Jet sighed and pinched his brow. “I’m not sure that’s going to work, sir. They’ll likely be expecting it.”

“The scouts say they haven’t put the villagers in any one location like they did on Ryloth,” Bacara continued. “My guess is they’re learning. They know now that if they put a bunch of people in one location, it makes mass evacuation easier.”

“So they keep them in their homes,” Ki-Adi-Mundi said.

“Jet would have to basically go door to door to get everyone out.”

“Not to mention they might have clankers in each of those homes in case we do that exact strategy,” Jet said, cursing under his breath.

“They haven’t fired on the village yet,” Ki-Adi-Mundi said. “Which means they’re waiting for us to make the first move. Send another pair of scouts out. I want them to monitor their movements. We might be able to draw them away from the village with a big enough distraction but we need to know the makeup of the battalion we are dealing with.”

“Yes, sir.” Jet saluted and called out to Wrangler and Sammy to go scout the village.

The men waited. Nervous and itching for battle. Itching for this campaign to be over and done with so they could get some sleep and maybe a shower.

The impatience was nearly impossible to ignore. Ki-Adi-Mundi had tried to instill within them the value of sitting still. Of sitting in the moment and exercising patience. But even he was having trouble with this one. He hadn’t slept in a bed for nearly a week and this was the last stronghold of droids on the planet. The campaign had been long and hard and he was sick and tired of being surrounded by death.

Besides, the longer they waited, the more likely innocents were to get hurt or die. The more likely a scouting party of droids would stumble upon their location and start attacking. The more likely things were to go wrong.

Finally, Sammy called in over the radio, breaking their silence. “Sir, you’re not going to believe this. Get down here.”

He furrowed his brow and looked to Jet and Bacara. Both of them seemed just as confused as he was.

“Sammy, are you suggesting we give away our position? As soon as we move, a group this large will be spotted by the droids.”

Sammy let out a laugh. “You don’t have to worry about the clankers, sir. The villagers took care of them for us.”

“What?” Bacara said. “What do you mean?”

“I mean they’ve all been destroyed. Apparently, the latest episode of ‘Creche to Command’ had some advice on how to take care of them and they followed it.”

All three of them exchanged glances.

“It might be a trap, sir,” Jet said. “Can’t the sith do freaky mind magic where they take over your mind?”

“Yes, Jet. They can use the force to manipulate the weak-willed into doing something.”

“Think that’s happening with Sammy?” Bacara asked.

“Probably not. We’ve had no indication that Dooku or Ventriss is on the planet. And at this point, I doubt either would show up.”

“Still, it’s too quiet. I don’t like it,” Bacara said, crossing his arms.

Ki-Adi-Mundi thought for a minute about how to best handle this.

“Bacara, Jet, you’re with me. We’ll move quietly towards the village from the East. The rest of the men should stay here and keep scanning for signs of droid activity.”

“Yes, sir.”

They moved through the forest carefully. Quietly. Crouched in the foliage that Ki-Adi-Mundi realized had a lot of activity. There was birdsong and small critters moving amongst the leaves of the trees. Scurrying through the underbrush.

That put him at ease. Animals were smart creatures. If there was danger nearby, they’d flee for safety. The fact that the forest seemed to be operating, as usual, meant that, at least to the animals, the danger had passed. It was the first time on this planet he had heard a bird sing.

It gave him hope.

Finally, they got to the edge of the clearing.

“Holy fucking shit,” Jet said, freezing where he was crouched.

Ki-Adi-Mundi was not one for cursing, but he had to agree with his commander. In front of them was a pile of destroyed droids sitting right outside the city limits. The villagers were still working on dragging their beaten and broken bodies through the streets to throw them unceremoniously in the pile.

He spotted Sammy and Wrangler talking to who appeared to be the leader of the village.

“I don’t think this is a trap, sir,” Bacara said. “There’s no way the Seppies would come up with something like this.”

He commed one of the men back at base camp. “Any signs of any further droid armies on the planet’s surface?”

“No, sir. It appears to be completely clean.”

“Well, then. Let’s go talk to our allies, men.” He stood up and stepped out of the clearing.

Wrangler spotted them and waved them over. “Over here, sirs. You’re not going to believe it. They took out the tactical droid first by bunging a big rock at it. Then they used ropes to trip up all the B2s and smash them to bits. Then they just started asking stupid questions to the B1s until they had the chance to blast them.”

“That is pretty impressive,” Ki-Adi-Mundi said.

“They’re pretty lucky no droidekas were here,” Sammy added. “Those ones are a bit harder to deal with.”

“Still, an impressive feat.” He turned to the village leader. “I am Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi. And these are my commanders, Bacara and Jet.”

The leader bowed to them slightly. “Gentlemen, I am pleased you are here.”

“Thank you. I apologize for taking so long to come to your aid.”

“Don’t be sorry.” He held up a hand. “We are happy to defend our home. And we are grateful the Republic forces sought to protect us at all.” He pulled a tactical droid’s head out from his robes. “I have been informed this might be of some use to your efforts.”

He smiled and took it from him. “Yes, this is very useful. Thank you. Well, then, if you don’t need any more help, my men and I will take my leave.”

“Nonsense!” The leader gasped. “You have fought long and hard to defend my home. It would be a sin to cast you out without so much as a drink.”

“Oh, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s kind of our job,” Bacara said.

“Please, please. I insist. Come, my friends. Let us celebrate our victory. Provided you do not have anywhere else to be.”

Technically, the battle was over and he should alert the Jedi council immediately for his next assignment. But… if they were to get their report a few hours later, it wouldn’t be the end of the Republic.

“This was the only thing we had to do today,” he replied with a smile. “And I think the men would enjoy a chance to rest after the campaign.”

“Of course, of course! Call them all here. We should celebrate with a great feast!”

“I do like food,” Jet mused.

“Then I shall call the others immediately. We thank you for your hospitality.”

The leader laughed and led them all into the village. “As I said before. It is no problem. And now that we know how to defend ourselves, you can focus on winning the war.”

Ki-Adi-Mundi needed to revise his earlier thoughts and musings on the nature of war. Sometimes, War did pause. It did give its soldiers a break. It did allow the men to rest and recover. And he would never take such a gift for granted.

*****

“How is it this hard to keep control over a group of clones and one little girl!” Palpatine shouted as he smashed a table through the window of Dooku’s throne room.

Dooku winced. He had actually kind of liked that window. It was a lovely stained glass piece that reminded him of summer. He didn’t say anything to his master.

The past week had been… challenging to say the least. First, the clones had somehow managed to convince the senate to give them representation. Yes, representatives didn’t hold the same power in the Senate as proper senators, but the fact that it happened was enough to throw their carefully crafted plans into chaos.

And then, another episode of Creche to Command aired. An episode that told the citizens how to fight back against the droid army. And now they were. Both Republic and Separatists. Turns out, many of the citizens living in separatist systems weren’t happy about being separatists. They didn’t seem like they necessarily wanted to join the Republic, but they were still starting to fight back and that was a problem. A war with only two armies could be easily controlled. A war where the citizens were starting to fight back? Where the masses could rise up against the powers in charge and overthrow them? That was a bit of a bigger issue.

He had severely underestimated the power of the series. What had once seemed like an exercise in frivolity had morphed before his very eyes into a powerful tool of dissent. He was almost proud of the girl for achieving such a feat.

He knew Qui-gon would be.

And now, that small glimmer of hope that he had first sensed was growing. It was morphing. It was changing. The flames were reaching out and burning away the darkness. Darkness that had had a chokehold over the galaxy for decades.

And now, more than ever, he was certain she knew of its power. The latest videos were too planned out. Too focused on their content. A casual viewer might not realize it, but Ahsoka Tano was using this series purposefully now.

Once again, he had to give her begrudging credit. She was certainly smarter than she looked. More shrewd and cunning as well.

What had once seemed like an overreaction from his master he could no longer ignore. The series was dangerous. If they didn’t get ahold of it soon, it might completely destroy everything they had worked towards.

“My lord,” he said carefully, “it might be time for us to execute Order 66. If we wait much longer, we might completely lose control over the Senate.”
Palpatine snarled. “No, that’s a terrible idea. The Jedi are more loved now than ever. If we execute all of them, the public is going to ask questions. And with these insolent clones wandering around, showing that they care, people are going to be suspicious when they turn on them. Besides, I don’t have enough power yet. I don’t have enough control. It wouldn’t be a civil transfer of power; it’d be a violent takeover. People don’t react well to those.”

Dooku was starting to think that Palpatine would never have enough power and control. There would always be people like Ahsoka Tano and Padme Amidala working directly against the dark side. They might be quiet. They might be hidden. They might be unknown. But they would always be there. And so long as one person held the light side of the Force in their hearts, there would always be a threat to Palpatine’s power.

“Then activate the chip for one clone and have him execute the girl. It would turn the public’s opinions on the clones and get rid of the problem.”

Once more, Palpatine snarled at the suggestion. “You’ve seen how they act around her. She’s one of their own. If one clone so much as thinks about harming her, they’re going to want answers. They’re going to start digging. We can’t risk them finding out about the chips.”

Dooku bit back the desire to sigh and roll his eyes. The plans weren’t perfect, but at least he was coming up with them! All Palpatine was doing was complaining and breaking his windows.

“Then let me send my assassin after her directly.”

“Your assassin has failed to kill her on multiple occasions. Targeting her specifically now will likely not yield much better results.”

Alright. He kind of had a point on that one.

“A more aggressive campaign with General Grievous could yield a high body count,” he said.

“I can’t risk that.” Palpatine shook his head. “Skywalker might get caught in the crossfire.”

This time, Dooku really did roll his eyes. Skywalker, Skywalker, Skywalker. Palpatine was obsessed with Skywalker. Maybe if he didn’t focus so much on Skywalker and instead focused on winning the fucking war he’d have his power by now.

Palpatine tapped his chin. “But… the girl’s death would be the best option here.”

Yes. Exactly. What he had been saying for the past twenty minutes! Sometimes it was like talking to a wall with this man.

“Skywalker is attached to her. It would push him further towards the dark side,” Dooku agreed, desperate to come up with a plan and execute it so they could move on.

“And without their little leader, I doubt the clones would keep up with the series. Not to mention if we make her a martyr, we could use that.”

He nodded. “It would galvanize more support for the war. The citizens would be clambering for more aggressive action so it could end more swiftly. Aggressive action that would require emergency powers to be signed over to you. And, because of her closeness with the clones, I doubt you’d have much resistance from that pathetic representative they have.”

“Yes. Let’s make her a martyr. Let’s kill her in battle and use the platform she’s built to turn the clones and the Republic towards extremism.”

“But, if my assassin will not do, how will you kill her?” he asked. “I supposed I could go after her myself. I’ve killed many Jedi in the past. One little padawan shouldn’t be much of an issue.”

“No,” Palpatine snapped. “You’re too high profile in this war. To recognizable. If you kill her, the people and the clones have someone to direct their anger towards. Once you’re gone, they’ll likely feel as though justice has been served and continue on as normal. We need it to be more senseless. Make it appear more random. Gunned down by a random droid in the midst of battle. Something so commonplace and pathetic it can’t possibly be pinned on one person.”

Dooku’s brow furrowed. “I’m not sure our forces could do that, though. They have yet to succeed and she’s been in countless battles.”

“They won’t. But we can give someone the opportunity to make it look like an ordinary battle.” Palpatine said. He pulled out a holoprojector and lower his head so his face was covered. “Bane, I require your services once more. I need you to assassinate Ahsoka Tano. I’ll send you the details. Send me the price.”

*****

CommanderWolffe: Corries, one of you better fucking answer!

CommanderThorn: Damn, y’all really sent like 50 messages to us

CommanderCody: Fox up and disappeared and no one would answer our calls for over an hour. Don’t make us look unreasonable!

CommanderThire: Sorry about that. We needed to keep up on his paperwork while he was gone and man does he have a lot of paperwork.

Chapter Text

Cody had to bite back a laugh as he watched Ahsoka pace; occasionally disappearing off the holoprojector as she walked out of its range only to appear a few seconds later. He heard her muttering to herself more than once. The whole spectacle made him smile.

He was glad she wasn’t on the ship with him. She would have clocked his amusement in a heartbeat and would likely be embarrassed, even though there was nothing to be embarrassed about. Everyone got nervous sometimes. Obi-Wan also wasn’t on the ship to clock his amusement either, instead at some boring political thing that Cody didn’t have the honor of being invited to. This meant that Cody didn’t have to shield any of his emotions. He wasn’t sure if the practice of shielding was exhausting to the Jedi, but it sure was to him. It was a lot of work to make sure his general didn’t have unrestricted access to every thought and emotion that flickered across his mind. So he had to thank the Force no freaky mind readers were on the ship because that meant he could watch Ahsoka in fond amusement as she paced and worried and hyped herself up. It was a very endearing picture and he was almost sad Rex wasn’t here to witness it.

He should probably help calm her nerves, though. As fun as it was to watch her, he didn’t want her working herself up.

“Vod’ika, relax,” he said gently.

“What if he hates me?” she asked, not slowing her pacing in the slightest. She had started gnawing on her nail now.

Alright, he definitely needed to calm her down before she gnawed the finger right off. “Why would he hate you?”

Cody had dealt with many anxious and stressed brothers over the years. While he didn’t have as much practice with Ahsoka, he figured similar tactics would work. Or at least help.

Step One: Get them to acknowledge the perceived problem out loud.

“Oh, I don’t know, because I ruined his life, overloaded him with work, and made him take a position he didn’t even want!” She cried, waving her arms around.

At least she stopped chewing on her nails.

Once more, Cody had to bite back a laugh. The 501st was well known in the GAR as being one of the more… melodramatic battalions. From their generals all the way down to their droids, everyone seemed to have flair for the dramatic. It was something that made Ahsoka right at home with them. A match so perfect Cody wondered if the Force helped assign troopers to the perfect battalions, or if the troopers adopted their general’s mannerisms.

He thought about how similar Rex and General Skywalker were.

Definitely some Force osik there.

“Ahsoka, do you really think you made him take the job?”

She nodded.

Step Two: Get them to realize the ridiculousness of their worries.

“If he didn’t want to do it, he wouldn’t have done it.”

“But the videos may have made him feel like he had no choice!” Ahsoka cried.

“That is not true. Besides, you had never mentioned Fox before except in passing. If he didn’t want to do it, he could have sent Thorn, or Thire, or Stone, or any of the thousands of Corries he’s got working for him. Trust me, I’ve known Fox a lot longer than you. He wouldn’t do this unless he wanted to.”

Ahsoka nodded and seemed calm by his words. That calmness disappeared almost immediately as she went back to pacing and chewing on her fingernail.

“What is it now?”

“Oh, he’s going to be so mean,” she said.

This time, Cody couldn’t help the laugh. He did a good job at smothering it before it got out of hand, though. “Who told you he was mean?”

He had a feeling what the answer would be.

“Fives, Hardcase, Jesse, Tup, Wooley, Waxer, Boil, Wolffe, Sinker, Boost, Hawke, Gree, Bly, Gregor, Flippity-Flop, Cato, Dogma, Denal, Cas—”

“And did you think about why they think he’s mean?” Cody cut her off before she rattled off every trooper in the GAR.

“No. But they wouldn’t lie!”

“Why didn’t you ask a trooper that doesn’t get drunk on shore leave? Like Ponds. Or Kix.”

Ahsoka turned to him, brow furrowed. “That implies that Rex gets drunk on shore leave.”

Perceptive. He’d have to be on guard to ensure she didn’t trick him into sharing any of Rex’s… less than stellar moments involving alcohol. Rex would kill him and Ahsoka would get ideas.

“Don’t even think about it, vod’ika,” he said. “Besides, I mitigate the disaster that would be Rex if left unattended with too much alcohol.”

Ahsoka pouted.

“Remind me to be the one who takes you out for your first drink when you’re at the legal drinking age.”

“Jesse already gave me some,” she said.

“Haar’chak! Does Rex know?”

“He was there.” She shrugged.

“And Jesse’s still alive?”

“Yup.” Her worried expression once more settled over her face. “You’re sure he’s not mean?”

“Fox isn’t mean, he’s overworked.”

“Then we should let him sleep!” she said. “Unless you’re lying to me and he actually is mean.

“He’s only mean if you get on his bad side,” Cody said, smiling at her.

This was, apparently, the wrong thing to say as she let out a wail and buried her head in her hands. “I’m totally on his bad side!”

“Ner vod’ika, you don’t have to be so dramatic. You’re not on his bad side. If you were, he would not be meeting with you. Gedet’ye, relax. I promise you, he doesn’t hate you.”

She looked up at him. “Promise?”

“Of course.”

“Still don’t know why you wanted to meet with him in the first place. I feel like you could have helped me out just as much.”

Cody had been surprised when, a few days ago, Ahsoka messaged him asking if he had any thoughts on how to use Creche to Command to influence people into being more supportive of trooper rights. He was impressed with her proposal and her admittance that Denal and Dogma’s video on the barracks had been done with the purpose of gauging how influential the series was. And now that she had a proof of concept, she wanted to take it further and extend her reach to even greater issues.

Getting people to donate blankets and soap was one thing.

Getting the government to recognize their rights as sentient creatures was another beast entirely.

And, while he was flattered she went to him for help (and forever grateful she didn’t go to someone like Hardcase who had his heart in the right place but whose plans weren’t always solid), he was not the right person to talk to about this.

That right person was Fox, especially now that he was a representative. If Ahsoka really wanted to use her platform to influence politics and change on a much larger scale, she and Fox needed to be on the same page. Cody could give her all the suggestions in the world, but large-scale change didn’t happen through social media alone. You needed someone in the government to distill those voices into a single, strong argument.

This was why Cody set up this meeting between the three of them. Ahsoka was the political activist. Fox was the political representative. And Cody was the bridge. The mediator. He wondered if Obi-Wan would be proud.

“You know why you and Fox need to talk,” Cody said. “You need to have a strategy. There are a lot of problems with how we’re treated by the GAR and the Republic at large. Those problems cannot be mitigated through you alone. Having Fox on your team and you on his can guide and focus both the bills he writes and the videos you create. This is just like any other battle. You don’t go in with two people and expect it to be a success. You have a team, each with their own strengths.”

“I know,” Ahsoka said. She crossed her arms, her foot now bouncing up and down.

Cody was starting to wonder if she even wanted to be here. Or if she was only here because she felt like she had to be. Like she wasn’t allowed to have a simple hobby.

“You do want to do this, right?” he asked.

“Of course, I do!” she replied. “I want to help the brothers!”

She sounded so earnest. But sincerity and guilt could often read the same, especially over a fuzzy, pixelated hologram.

“Are you sure? Because it’s one thing to make silly videos with Jesse and Fives that just happen to help us out. It’s another thing entirely to start making propaganda. I promise you, no one will blame you if you stick to the original idea. Not everything needs to serve a greater purpose.”

“No, I want to do this,” she said. “I want to help in any way that I can. You’re my brother. I… I love you. All of you. Sitting by while you get mistreated isn’t right. It’s not right with me. It’s not right with the Force. It… it twists it. I know you and the others make fun of how Jedi interact with the Force and how we sense the world around us, but I can feel how wrong the galaxy is right now. It hurts sometimes.”

He noticed she had grabbed her wrist and started rubbing it. He froze, staring at the repetitive, almost obsessive motion, and thanked the Force once more that Obi-Wan was not on the ship as he did not have to hide the guilt, fear, and shame that crashed into him.

Ahsoka continued, oblivious to his sudden change in demeanor. “Sometimes, I feel so helpless. I feel like anything I do is so small and stupid and insignificant but I have to do something. Even if it doesn’t end up helping, I can’t just sit by and do nothing. You don’t deserve it.”

Cody swallowed thickly and forced himself to calm down. Even though Ahsoka couldn’t feel him in the Force, she could still read his body language and he was not going to distract her.

Krell had left a dark, ugly mark on Cody’s soul. So dark and ugly that it surprised even him. He had assumed the matter was resolved when Ahsoka left the room and Krell left the ship. But it had stayed with him. It had stayed with him just like any especially hard, bloody battle had stayed with him. It had stayed with him like the first time he experienced death on the battlefield. It had stayed with him like his first forced retreat.

He kept trying to convince himself that nothing had happened. He had reacted to the situation appropriately and given such a minor incident the care and attention it deserved.

His mind, his subconscious, seemed to disagree.

He had always been prone to nightmares. One did not fight and lose as many brothers as he did and not have a rotating set of nightmares at the ready every time he closed his eyes. But, they had warped now. Instead of the usual ‘battlefields full of clankers that killed everyone he loved’, another figure had joined in the chaos.

Always on the side of the Separatists, a lightsaber ignited, shining through the dust. Sometimes blue. Sometimes green. Sometimes both. A hand reached out and grabbed someone he cared about. Sometimes Ahsoka. Sometimes Rex. Sometimes Obi-Wan. Sometimes another trooper. Sometimes he grabbed more than one person. Then, before Cody could blink, that lightsaber would slash through them. The dust would clear and reveal Krell standing there, saying his number and not his name. Then, he would turn and start cutting down the rest of Cody’s brothers, all strung up with targets so he could ‘practice’. Cody always woke up sweating, with the sounds of his brothers screaming in his ear.

Obi-Wan had clocked that something was going on almost immediately no matter how hard Cody tried to shield. He tried to push him to talk. Cody remained steadfast and told him they were simply bad dreams. He hoped the general respected his privacy and didn’t peek in on them. Could Jedi do that?

It didn’t matter, ultimately.

What mattered was Krell. Despite him being far away from both the 212th and 501st, despite the fact that no one else had reported him assaulting another brother or padawan (No. No, he didn’t assault. That wasn’t assault. Assault meant something serious. Assault meant he needed to talk to Obi-Wan. Krell didn’t assault anyone.) Cody could not shake this feeling. Krell continued to loom over him, wrapping his visions and shadows and causing his gut to twist with anxiety.

Sometimes he lay for hours at night, unable to sleep and wondering if he had made the wrong choice. Obi-Wan was just a call away. Or a short walk.

“Cody, are you okay?” Ahsoka asked, cutting off his quickly spiraling thoughts.

He shook himself out of his musings and cursed himself for not regaining control faster. Krell was off the ship. He was far away from Cody and his brothers. He was overreacting. He didn’t need to tell Obi-Wan anything.

“Yes, kid, I’m fine. And you’re going to be fine,” he said, smiling at her. “Fox wants to help. That’s why he’s sitting out there on the Senate floor. That’s why he agreed to this meeting. And that’s why he doesn’t hate you. You trust me, right?”

Ahsoka nodded.

“Then trust me when I say there is nothing to worry about. Okay?”

Ahsoka nodded. “You’re right. You’re right. I can do this.”

“That’s my girl,” he said.

The holoprojector beeped, signaling an incoming caller.

“Speak of the devil.” Cody grinned and accepted the call.

Fox appeared, yawning and downing yet another cup of caf that his medic probably didn’t want him having.

“Fox, how are—”

Fox held up a finger, cutting Cody off. He then pulled out a charger can, pulled the tab so it opened with a satisfying hiss, and then started chugging, holding back up his finger to keep Cody quiet.

Cody and Ahsoka exchanged glances and he couldn’t help but smirk at Fox’s antics. This was the man Ahsoka was so nervous to meet.

“You better not be drinking what I think you’re drinking!” a trooper shouted.

Cody assumed it was one of the Corrie medics. Probably Dice.

Fox didn’t even hesitate as he kept chugging down the energy drink.

For several seconds, no one said anything. The only sound Cody could hear was the humming of the ship, and Fox chugging down more caffeine in thirty seconds than any man should ever have in their entire life.

Finally, he finished the can, crushed it on the table, and threw it off to the side. Cody and Ahsoka winced as it sounded like it crashed into a pile of more cans, causing them all to crash to the ground.

Fox didn’t even flinch. “Let’s do this thing.” He grunted. “I got put on another committee today so I don’t have a lot of time.”

“How many committees are you on?” Cody asked.

“Too many. I think I run more of the government now than Palpatine does.”

“Why does he keep putting you on committees?” Ahsoka asked.

“Do you want to talk about that? Or do you want to talk about using the series to promote bills? I don’t have time for both.”

Ahsoka shrank back slightly, still unsure of how to act around Fox.

Cody decided to start the meeting off, then. Give her a little push. “Right, let’s talk about how to use Creche to Command to promote Fox’s legislative efforts. Ahsoka, what are your goals?”

She jumped and looked at him with those big, pleading eyes she used on the boys to get them to do what she wanted. Right now, she wanted him to take over this meeting. To take charge of this project. But that wasn’t his job. He was the mediator. The bridge. This was her and Fox’s project, not his. She needed to be the one that ultimately coordinated and spoke with Fox. He smiled at her encouragingly. She seemed to get that he wasn’t going to do this for her and turned to Fox.

“Well… um… so, I’ve done some testing with the last few episodes and I have a pretty good theory that anything I do an episode on will get people talking. And, well, if it’s related to politics, even just tangentially, we can… um, we can use that to garner support. People can call their senators and whatnot. So, I was thinking that instead of us operating independently, you and I… we could… plan… and… talk?” she finished weakly, wincing at the end.

Fox was not deterred by this rather weak starting point. His expression was as solemn and serious as ever as he nodded. “That would be helpful. I can’t work on everything at once so if we could guide the public discourse that would be of help. That way senators aren’t getting inundated with calls about issues I don’t have time for.”

Ahsoka breathed a sigh of relief and she continued, much more confident than before. “I was thinking of maybe doing a video on armor. Your guys’ armor is awful. It doesn’t stop blaster shots at all. I know it slows it down which can be the difference between life and death, but one shot from a B1 shouldn’t be enough to kill you. It needs to be better.”

Fox shook his head. “The armor discussion has already come up multiple times. Our current armor is cheap to mass produce. Any alternatives aren’t as cost-effective and our lives just aren’t worth the increased cost.”

“Not worth the increased cost!” Ahsoka cried. “Your lives are priceless!”

“Thank you for thinking that,” Fox said. “But the fact still remains that the armor discussion would be a waste of time until we have an alternative that is more cost-effective. Organa and I are working on that now. If you do a video on it too soon, the public pressure might die down before we can get the bill drafted.”

“Oh.” Ahsoka deflated slightly. “Um, what about medical supplies? Kix never seems to have enough. None of the medics do. We can try and increase the budget for medicine and not just weapons and ships.”

Fox shook his head. “Chuchi’s brought that up at almost every budgetary meeting. It’s never managed to pass.”

“Which is why we can use the series to increase support.”

“Hmm, maybe, but I don’t want to risk that as your first attempt to directly influence a bill,” Fox said. “Besides, when the budget has expanded for medical supplies, it ends up so stripped down it hardly matters. But, it still could count as a win, which doesn’t help us very much.”

“What do you suggest, then,” Ahsoka said.

Fox muttered to himself and scrolled through the datapad. His eyes narrowed for a second before looking back at them. “Pensions and job training for after the war,” he stated.

“What do you mean?” Ahsoka asked.

“I mean, war is unpredictable but I know two things for certain. One: The war is going to end. Two: We will eventually be too old to fight. Right now, there is nothing to deal with that. Not even temporary solutions. If we win the war tomorrow, there is no legislation or contingency plan about what to do with the troopers. Technically, we are Kaminoan property so we might be returned to them to do with as they wish. But, the Kaminoans have no need for millions of warriors. Nor do they have the space to house all of us. So, what happens to us then?”

They decommission us. Quietly. Cody and Fox shared a knowing look.

“It’s been a big talk amongst the commanders,” Cody said before Ahsoka caught on to what Fox was implying.

Any gen one was already achingly aware that their bodies couldn’t keep up forever. Even though he wasn’t that old (chronologically and biologically) he could already feel himself struggling to keep up with the shinies. It took him longer to heal from injuries even with bacta. Sometimes, he didn’t even need to be on a battlefield for things to hurt. One day he turned his head just right and ended up with neck pain for a week. Of course, his aches and pains weren’t helped by the physical labor he put his body through every time he stepped off the ship. Battle aged you faster than any Kaminoan scientist could.

And that was why Fox’s point was a valid one. What happened after the war? What happened after Cody was no longer able to fight?

Even if he was given the option to live out the rest of his life as a commander, did he want that?

Sometimes he thought he wouldn’t mind serving with Obi-Wan until he eventually kicked the bucket. But other times he wondered. If he had a choice, is this what he would choose? And what would happen if he didn’t even get to stay a soldier until he died? What then?

“I think I could work in a video about the future,” Ahsoka said.

“I don’t know,” Cody said. “It’s a big issue to us, yes, but is this what you want your first test to be, Fox?”

“I want it dealt with sooner rather than later,” Fox said. “It’s an issue that we feel like we can put off, but one day we won’t be able to. And it’ll be too late then.”

Cody was unsure. “You just got your position. This is much bigger than a fluff bill to manage food and knitted sock donations. The Republic would actually have to put time, energy, and money into managing the pensions and any job training programs.”

“Exactly,” Fox said. “Every other bill I’ve introduced has been an easy pill for them to swallow. A shallow bit of publicity so they could point and say they listen to their constituents. Even my election didn’t require that much of them. I’m only one voice. I can be easily drowned out if the Senate wanted. But if we’re going to start making impactful changes, I need to have a better understanding of the data. I need to know exactly who is on our side, who we can sway, who will never be swayed, and how far this holo series influence can extend. If we fail, then that only gives me more information to work with.”

“You want to introduce a bill to the Senate that you know will fail? Ahsoka asked.

“I want it to win. I will do everything in my power for it to win. But, sometimes you have to let the enemy get a win so that you’re in a better position to strike later. Right now, it’s easy to get senators on my side. I’m not asking them to make any tough choices or expand a lot of energy. How does that change when I actually start fighting for our rights?”

“But, if you don’t pass the bill, won’t that hinder your efforts? And if it gets stripped down, won’t the outcome be the same as the medical issue?” Ahsoka asked.

Fox shook his head. “Not necessarily. Like I said, aging and the end of the war isn’t an immediate problem. I have time to pivot if need be. And unlike the medical bill which is a reoccurring budgetary issue, if I get this one passed, even a stripped-down version, that’s a permanent change to the legislation I can mess around with later.”

Ahsoka didn’t look convinced. Cody wasn’t either. He understood the need to sometimes take a few hits so you knew what you were getting into, but this felt like a big risk.

“Let’s look at it this way,” Fox continued. “Option A: I introduce the bill and it succeeds with the same ease that the others have. That means the Senate is largely on my side and is willing to do more work if it comes to protecting our rights. Option B: I introduce the bill but it is largely stripped down of what we originally wanted. It’s still a success because now we will have something that thinks about our future and it will be easier to add legislation to it in the future. Or, Option C: I introduce the bill and it fails to pass. Still, a success because I can see all arguments for and against it. I can see how many people called in from your series and what influence they had on their senators. I can see who was on our side and who wasn’t. I can see how much I had to compromise to get people on my side. Then, I pull back. I go back to writing fluff bills and slowly introducing bills that have more and more bite to them. Priming the Senate to accept my proposals. Then I reintroduce the bill and it gets passed on much more favorable terms. Regardless, I am going into this work blind and without training.”

“We have never done something like this before,” Cody agreed. “More intel would be helpful. Are you okay with the risks? It might not pass and then we might not get another chance to pass it before the war is over.”

Fox nodded. “If the Senate is truly hostile towards us, we need to know now rather than later.”

“Alright, then. Ahsoka, you still up for making a video?”

“Of course!” she nodded. “Do you want to introduce the bill first and then have a video about it?”

Cody shook his head. “No. We don’t want the series to seem reactionary. We want you to lead the charge. Or, at least appearing to lead the charge. Not the other way around.”

“I’ll wait a week or so after the video goes live,” Fox said. “That should give the neverd’e enough time to call their senators. And I get the bonus of looking like I listen to them.”

Ahsoka nodded. “Okay. I’ll figure out a way to make it seem natural. I’ll also ask around and see if anyone’s interested. Maybe Vaughn?”

“Hold on, ner vod’ika,,” Cody said. “If we want this to work, we need to get as many views on your video as possible. You’re going to need someone a little more eye-catching than Vaughn. No offense to the guy.”

“Who, though? I guess I could ask Wolffe or another commander. But most people don’t know who they are so they wouldn’t care. Unless you have time, Fox? Not sure when I’ll be in Coruscant next, though.”

Fox shook his head and started chugging another cup of caf.

“That wasn’t who I was thinking of,” Cody said, deciding to ignore Fox’s addiction for now. Who was he to judge how the man managed to keep himself awake? “I was actually thinking Rex would be a co-host for this one.”

“Rex?” Ahsoka furrowed her brow. “Why him?”

“Well, he’s been in the background or mentioned in almost every video. People have a sort of cult following for him. His video’s on ‘Best of’ are some of the most viewed. But, because he’s hardly ever seen without his helmet, people are curious what he looks like.”

“He didn’t have his helmet when Fives was giving you the love confession,” Ahsoka pointed out.

“Yes, but the focus was on Fives and me. People couldn’t get a clear shot of him. He’s almost like an urban legend. You get him on, and that’s going to drive up the views.”

“I don’t know if he’ll say yes. He agreed to be on one episode. Technically he was on Jesse’s slang episode. He says that counts.”

Cody grinned at her. “Kid, you’re looking at the guy who single-handedly wrangled him through basic training on Kamino. Trust me, I can get him to do just about anything.”

“It’s true,” Fox said, finally finishing his latest cup of caffeine-filled liquid. “Cody’s damn near a miracle worker. He kept Wolffe in line too.”

Ahsoka laughed. “Then I’ll leave you to it, commander. Thanks for the meeting, Representative Fox, I’ll let you know when the video gets posted so you can be prepared. Maybe get some sleep in the meantime?”

“Sleep is for the weak,” Fox muttered before shutting off his holoprojector.

“Take care, ner vod’ika,” Cody said, shutting off his own holoprojector.

He shot Rex a message letting him know that Ahsoka wanted him to be on an episode and the basics of what it was about. A proper episode. Not just in the background chasing Jesse around or shooting at Fives.

Message sent he leaned back and closed his eyes. Ahsoka’s words to him about the Force echoed in his mind. It hurt because of their treatment, eh? He wondered if Obi-Wan could feel it. He wondered if he should ask.

Rex responded in the affirmative, proving that he was willing to do just about anything for Ahsoka.

Cody hoped that this video would help the Force or whatever Ahsoka was sensing. He couldn’t help but feel like it was strange, though. It almost sounded as if what was good for the troopers was good for the Galaxy and what was bad for the troopers was bad for the Galaxy. Funny, he never thought their wellbeing and treatment was so heavily tethered to peace. He’d have to keep an eye on it. Maybe it was time he did more than observation.

Maybe it was time he started acting.

*****

Episode 10: The Elusive Captain Rex

It was clear that Ahsoka was hiding. Or, at least attempting to hide behind what looked like a chair. At a desk, tapping away on a data pad was a trooper with buzzed blond hair. Though his back was turned, his armor was recognizable enough that most people know who he was.

“And this,” Ahsoka whispered dramatically, “is the elusive Captain Rex. Not much is known about this strange and mysterious trooper. Unlike the rest of the troopers, the elusive Captain Rex is shy. And, therefore, has yet to appear on an episode of Creche to Command. However, his markings are very distinctive. He’s one of the only troopers with blond hair. And his armor has distinctive jaigs’ eyes on the helmet. Let’s see if we can’t get a little closer. We’ll have to be quiet, or else we’ll startle him.”

Captain Rex stopped tapping away and turned towards her. “Kid, the room is not nearly big enough for you to hide and narrate like this is some sort of nature documentary.”

Ahsoka let out a soft gasp. “The elusive Captain Rex has spotted me. If I stay real quiet and still, I shouldn’t startle him.”

Rex quirked an eyebrow. “How long are you going to keep this up?”

“Let’s try and get a little closer for a better look. Gotta keep low to the ground so he doesn’t feel threatened.”

“You don’t even come up to my shoulder.”

Ahsoka stood up. “Do too!”

Rex stared at her.

“Don’t you lie! I’m getting taller.”

“Really? I think you’re getting shorter. Now come on out from behind the chair.”

“Fine,” Ahsoka said. “This was the only way to get you on camera, though. It’s kind of fun, sneaking around, trying to get shots of you.”

Rex rolled his eyes and pulled another chair next to him. “Alright, I yield. I’ll be on an episode.”

“Yes!” Ahsoka chirped, bounding up to the chair and setting up the camera so both she and Rex were in the frame.

“I can’t believe you went behind my back to get Cody involved,” He said, pushing the datapad away.

“So he was telling the truth. He can get you to do anything.”

Rex rolled his eyes. “I do what I want to do.”

“Yeah, right,” she snorted. “Alright, this is your episode. What do you want to talk about?”

“How about why you should wear armor,” Rex said, poking at her chest.

Ahsoka batted his hand away. “I don’t need armor. I got the Force and my lightsaber.”

“Mmm, I don’t buy it,” Rex said.

“People don’t want to hear about me and armor. They want to hear about you. So, come on. Tell us about yourself. Wolffe said to make sure to tell everyone that you are single.”

Rex turned a brilliant shade of red. “Quit talking to Wolffe!”

Ahsoka laughed. “Look, we match!”

“Match?”

“Yeah, we’re the same color now.” She poked his cheek.

“We are not!”

“Are too! Are you embarrassed cause you don’t have a girlfriend or boyfriend?”

“No, that’s not it,” Rex said. “Let’s change the subject to something other than my love life. What do you want me to talk about?”

Ahsoka stopped laughing. “Why does it matter what I want?”

“Cause it’s your series.”

“Yes, but everyone else more or less chose what they want they wanted to talk about. So, come on. There must be something on your mind.”

Rex looked thoughtful for a few seconds and then shrugged apologetically. “Sorry, vodi’ka, I’m afraid I’m not very good at this sort of thing. I could complain about paperwork but that’s so boring I think your audience might finally draw the line on what they’re willing to watch.”

Ahsoka didn’t seem put off by his answer and smiled at him. “That’s okay. Um, how about the war? Any thoughts on that?”

“You want to talk about that? Maybe paperwork would be the better option.”

She shrugged and began tracing patterns on the table with her fingers. “I don’t know. It feels weird not ever mentioning it. Like, not really mentioning it, if you know what I mean.”

Rex shook his head. “Enlighten me.”

She sighed. “It’s just… this whole series is about the war, right? It started because the initiates were worried about being commanders. Most of our videos are specifically tied to the war. But, even with all of that, it’s like we never directly talk about it. Maybe the closest we got was with the names and how much it sucks to lose a brother before they get one.”

Rex smiled sadly at her. “Yeah, the war. I can’t speak for every brother, but I do know a lot of our feelings are… complicated.”

“Complicated?”

He shrugged. “Without the war, none of us would be alive. Most natborns out there would be alive with or without the war. Sure, maybe it indirectly influenced their conception or whatever, but that’s indirect. You can’t always control or predict indirect impacts. But there is no way I would be alive if some Jedi hadn’t hired the Kaminoans to create an army. So, in many ways, I feel grateful for the war because I’m alive. But, then I feel guilty because so many people’s lives have been destroyed because of it. I’ve lost so many brothers because of it. And even though I’m alive because of it, I’ll also probably die because of it.”

“I think it’s fine to have complicated feelings,” Ahsoka said softly. “I’m glad because I never would have met you or any of the other troopers if it weren’t for the war. But, sometimes I feel like my time as a padawan was stolen from me. I listen to some of the older Jedi, the ones that were knighted before all this started, and I feel jealous because I don’t get that. I’ll never get that. Sometimes I go weeks without seeing my master because he’s off on another mission. Or I struggle to meditate because I can feel all the troopers dying and injured in Kix’s med bay. And it's awful. It’s all awful.”

Rex’s eyes burned with an intensity that took the audience aback. “If I could, I would make it so the war never happened.”

“Even though it means you never would have been born?”

Rex looked away from her. “I’d be willing to make that sacrifice.”

“You can’t change the past,” she said softly.

“But I can change the future. We’re doing our best to finish this war up as fast as possible. Preferably in the next five minutes.”

Ahsoka laughed. “I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“You never know, kid.”

“What about after the war?” she asked.

“After?” Rex frowned.

She nodded. “It’s going to end eventually. And we’re going to win because you guys are the best soldiers ever.”

“You think so?” he laughed.

“I know so. Come on, out with it. What are you going to do after the war? Stay with the military? Maybe set up a farm somewhere?”

For a brief moment, Rex seemed overwhelmed by Ahsoka’s words. It was as if he had, at one point, witnessed what it would be like to not be a soldier. As if he were seeing a possibility he never allowed himself to dream of before. That expression was gone in the blink of an eye.

“To tell you the truth, kid, us clones aren’t really long-term planners. Not really a skill you need when odds are you’ll die tomorrow.”

“But there must be something you want to do,” Ahsoka urged.

Rex shook his head. “Sorry, little one, that’s not really something I like to think about. It’s not like the Republic is planning for it either. We don’t get a pension and my skills are pretty limited to war. If this whole mess ends tomorrow, I don’t where my brothers and I will go. Or where we’ll be accepted. No one at the top has ever thought that far ahead.”

Ahsoka, surprisingly, seemed happy with the answer. “Then we’ll have to fix that. I’ll see if there’s a career aptitude test of something you can take. And then we can plan your future! It’ll be a whole series! ‘Rex’s Future Career Training’.”

“I only agreed to be on one episode.”

“One episode of ‘Creche to Command’. You never said anything about ‘Rex’s Future Career Training’.”

He laughed. “I would hate to see what a career aptitude test would give me.”

“Maybe you could be an author.”

He made a face. “No thanks. I hate writing.”

“An actor? It’d be super easy to get you a stunt double.”

“Try again.”

“A fashion model.”

“What is with all these careers?” he asked. “What about something practical like a mechanic or teacher?”

Ahsoka tapped her chin. “You would be a good teacher.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah! You taught me everything I know.”

“Then what exactly is the purpose of General Skywalker?” he asked, a mischievous glint in his eye.

“Fine,” Ahsoka sighed dramatically. “You didn’t teach me everything I know.”

“What did General Skywalker teach you?”

“How to crash a ship.”

He threw back his head and laughed. “Alright, I’ll give you that one, kid.” He reached out and rubbed the top of her head. “Think that answers all your questions, vod’ika? Think your viewers will be satisfied?”

“I do have one more.” She grinned.

“Oh?”

“Are you a natural blond?”

“Tell Fives he’s never going to find out.”

She snickered. “Darn, so close.”

*****

Even though it was always planned that Ahsoka’s video would garner some public support that would lead to constituents calling their Senators, Fox was still surprised at just how well their plan had worked. Within an hour of the video dropping, the calls to the senators started rolling in.

At first, though, he was worried. He hadn’t received any calls or messages asking for him to do something about the lack of future planning for the troopers.

Then, Senator Mothma stopped by. “There seems to be an uptick in people wishing to provide the troopers with some sort of after-war support, Representative,” she said, an almost coy smile on her lips. She had clocked onto their game.

“Oh really?” Fox said, pretending to be surprised, just in case someone was listening in.

She nodded. “I’ve already received fifty calls. I estimate they’re going to get much more numerous as the day goes on. As the representative for the troopers, would you like to take the lead on this?”

He handed her a datapad with the bill already drafted. “Of course, senator. Please, feel free to look this over and make any comments. Can I assume the support from Senators Chuchi, Amidala, and Organa as well?”

“As always. I will also be bringing Senator Lezien in on this.”

“Perfect. Let’s wait a few hours and see if anyone else is in immediate support.”

“That sounds perfect, Representative Fox.”

Several more senators had immediately signed onto support the bill, with several others stating that they might be willing to support it if a few concessions were made. All in all, it seemed like Fox’s plan to use this bill and corresponding video to start gathering data was working perfectly.

Cody’s prediction that Rex would draw in the views was also proving to be startlingly accurate. “The Elusive Captain Rex” was the highest-viewed video on the site to date. The views were so high that it crashed the site several times. Which just further fueled public interest as people wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

And then public interest was fueled further when the celebrity Sari Mundalan, who had previously spoken out about the sock and soap issue, had once again used her social media to promote the video.

Even before Fox hit the floor to debate floor, he now knew several things he didn’t before.

Ashoka could use her series to influence politics. That was solidified. More importantly, it proved that people weren’t immediately turned off by the more serious topics. If anything, the serious nature of the conversation between her and Rex had only improved public perception of the troopers. They saw that these men took their jobs seriously and even though their future was uncertain, they were still working to end the war as soon as possible.

He did finally watch the videos. All of them. After all, if he was going to be using them as a tool, he needed to know exactly what was going on. He knew that Rex knew the general idea they were aiming for, but he was still surprised by how earnest and unscripted the conversation was. If Fox didn’t literally take part in planning this whole thing, he would have never guessed the conversation wasn’t entirely spontaneous.

Still, listening to his brother speak about the future brought up a lot of emotions in Fox. As a Corrie, he always felt a bit more certain of what his future looked like. He wasn’t a soldier. At least, not like his brothers. His job was to maintain the peace on Coruscant. That was a job that still needed to be done even if there was no war to be fought. But there was not room on Coruscant for every trooper in the GAR. They needed a plan. They needed a future. Even if the plan was to stick every clone in the Coruscant Guard and call it a day, they deserved to have the choice.

And he was going to do everything in his power to give his brothers that choice.

Ahsoka’s viewers were willing to watch heavier topics. They were willing to call in for their support. And Fox had forty-six senators that were immediately willing to sign onto a bill that required more time, attention, and money.

Now came the uncharted territory. Now came the intel gathering.

Fox had five questions he needed to answer by the end of this.

1. How much were the senators willing to listen to their constituents? At what point did they decide that appeasing their voters was less important than lining their pockets?
2. Who was definitely on the side of the troopers? He already had forty-six senators that showed their immediate support, but did he have any others that were maybe less vocal?
3. Who was definitely against the troopers?
4. Who was in the middle and could they be swayed to his side? If so, what did it take and was it worth the effort and compromises?
5. Finally, how much was Palpatine willing to let them get away with before he finally stepped in and put a stop to this whole thing?

That last one was probably the most important. Fox could get all the support in the galaxy. Every senator and representative could vote in favor of him. But, if Palpatine decided to clip his wings, it would all be over.

Those questions would all be answered in due time. Right now, he was focusing on the debate at hand. Unlike his first debate, however, he felt much more in control. Much calmer and more relaxed. This was partially due to the fact that he was more prepared. Partially due to the fact that this wasn’t new. And partially due to the fact that winning support for the bill wasn’t the main issue here. That alone took a huge weight off his chest and put him at ease. His thoughts flowed better and he didn’t feel as nervous when a hostile senator started to argue against him.

It also seemed to have the added bonus of throwing off his opponents. They didn’t seem to like how sure of himself he was, or how little their words seemed to matter to them. He had already reduced two senators to stuttering messes when they failed to get a rise out of him.

And now he was going toe-to-toe with Yarlix, who was doing a much better job at not being frustrated by Fox’s demeanor.

“I do not see why we need to provide pensions and job training for the troopers,” Yarlix argued. “We already pay for all the training on Kamino. All your food. Your shelter. Your clothes. How much more will your people demand of us? We are not made out of money.”

“Need I remind you, senator, that we did not ask for this training? We cannot opt out of this training. And the food, shelter, and clothing are our payment as soldiers. And we cannot stop being soldiers.” He argued back.

Even though he was much calmer during this debate, it was still exhausting going back and forth like this. Sometimes, he wanted to leap into the other person’s pod, shake them and scream ‘Why are you fighting this much? You know this makes you look like a fascist dick, right?'

Amidala said he wasn’t allowed to do that. Or threaten them with his blaster. Or stun them. Or have Archer stun them. So, he opted to use his words instead.

Not all his words, sadly.

She also said he wasn’t allowed to call them whiny little baby bitches.

Or shitheads with asses for brains.

Or cock-sucking bantha fuckers.

He still called them all those things. Just not to their face. Only in his office. And on the inside. Where it mattered the most.

“Besides,” he continued, “it is common to give natborn soldiers some form of pension for their years of service. And many militaries around the galaxy already have programs to help soldiers transition to civilian life after they’ve completed their service. These usually include job training, housing assistance, and access to medical services. I am not asking for anything unreasonable. I am asking for what is already provided to soldiers. Your home world has similar programs for your domestic military. Or, do you not think such a program is beneficial? Shall we bring up your history of voting for or against domestic troop support?”

This finally got Yarlix off-kilter as he opened and closed his mouth several times before finally pulling his pod back, looking pissed.

Sadly, Senator Burtoni had yet to be thrown off kilter and was more than happy to continue the debate.

“I do not know why we’re worrying about this now,” she said. “The war is still going on. And you have promised that as long as we are still at war, your men would continue to serve the Republic.”

“A promise that I have no intentions of breaking now,” Fox said. “But the war will end one day. Preferably with us as the victors. That’s the plan anyway. It would be kind of stupid if we didn’t plan on winning.”

Laughter echoed throughout the chamber at his little joke. That seemed to help bolster his support.

“Senators,” he said, “you have passed a military spending budget that is over ten quintillion credits. If you truly do not think the troopers can win the war, then why are you wasting your money on us? Why are you spending all this time and energy training us and housing us if you don’t believe that we will end the war?”

“It is not that we don’t believe in your capabilities, commander,” Senator Burtoni said.

Oh, how he hated when she called him commander. Before, he would have been thrilled to hear her call him by his rank and not his number, but now it was another snide comment. A way for her to show she did not see him as a representative. As an equal.

He swallowed down his anger and frustrations and focused on the task at hand. He would not allow this woman to throw him off. He was in control here, not the Senate.

“It is that we feel there are other issues to deal with,” she said.

A murmur of agreement rippled across the floor.

“What happens if we win the war tomorrow?” Fox asked. “What happens if Grievous is electrocuted, Dooku is shot, Ventriss is arrested, and Desix negotiates a treaty because all the major players of the Separatists are dead or in custody? Do you think we’ll have time then to figure out what to do with the troopers? We need to act now so that when the end of the war comes -and it will come- we can be ready.”

“Senator,” Palpatine spoke for the first time in the debate, “Representative, while I do enjoy watching your lively verbal sparring match, we do have other things we need to discuss. We’ll continue the conversation tomorrow,” he said.

He smiled at Fox and suddenly everything tilted on its axis. He felt as though the wind had been punched out his lungs and a sharp, shooting pain pierced the right side of his skull. It was only thanks to years of training that he did not react to the sudden pain or weakness in his legs. But his mind was not so calm.

For the first time, he realized that he had been so caught up in the debate that he hadn’t had a chance to monitor Palpatine and how he was reacting to all of this.

One of his goals was to figure out how much Palpatine would let him get away with, and he hadn’t focused on him at all.

That was because he had been prepared for the barely concealed disdain and fury that radiated off the man whenever troopers acted in ways he didn’t like. He was prepared for him to interject himself into the debate like when Fox had been arguing for their right to representation.

Palpatine hadn’t done that. He hadn’t said anything. He hadn’t felt anything. He had blended into the background. He had been observing Fox. And now that his observations were over, Fox felt something unexpected from the man.

Palpatine seemed almost smug. As if this were all part of the plan. As if he was the one in control of the situation and not Fox. Fox had assumed that only he knew the true intention behind the bill, but it seemed like Palpatine knew it too. And Fox was playing right into his hands. He was doing exactly what Palpatine wanted him to do.

But he couldn’t have known that this was what he, Ahsoka, and Cody were planning!

Unless…

They had the meeting on the GAR network using GAR equipment. It was too difficult for Cody to send a coded message to him and Ahsoka and get all three of them off-network for the conversation. And he didn’t seem to see the point. They weren’t doing anything illegal. Hell, Palpatine himself had wanted to use Creche to Command as propaganda since he first heard about it. And it wasn’t like Fox wasn’t allowed to talk to the people he represented to get their input. Besides, everything was recorded. Why would his conversation with Cody and Ahsoka be what Palpatine finally looked into?

Out of all the calls, all the chatlogs, all the messages, why did this raise red flags?

Because you’re not the only ones who recognized the influence Ahsoka’s series had over the public. And now you’re an official representative in the Senate. A representative he didn’t want.

Of course, a conversation between Ahsoka and Fox would have immediately raised a red flag for Palpatine. He probably started monitoring both of their communications as soon as they started becoming a problem.

But that still didn’t explain why Palpatine didn’t seem bothered by this blatant attempt to use propaganda to influence the neverd’e.

Did… did Palpatine agree with Fox’s idea?

If he did, then something was very wrong. If Fox and Palpatine were on the same side, then that meant Fox was on the wrong side. Something else was going on here. Fox was a fool to think he ever had control of the situation.

He had forgotten one of the basic tenants of battle the Prime had drilled into him. The first lesson they had ever been taught.

Never assume you have the upper hand.

Always assume the enemy is one step ahead of you. Always assume they have another trick up their sleeve. A sniper on the roof. A battalion of droids hidden around a corner. A knife hidden on their person.

Forget this rule, and you will end up dead.

He looked up at the chancellor as he called to order the next topic of conversation. Instead of getting clarity with his plan, the waters had gotten muddier. Now he had no idea what his next moves should be or what sort of intel he could possibly hope to gather.

“Is everything alright?” Amidala asked. Despite the fact that he was a representative for a special interest group on Kamino, he could not bring himself to share a booth with Burtoni. He might just shove that pretentious long-neck over the edge and watch her body splatter on the ground.

Fox turned to her, mouth cottony and dry. The sharp pain in his head had reduced to a dull throb. Annoying but manageable. He felt Palpatine’s gaze prickle the back of his neck. As much as he wanted to bring her into this immediately, he couldn’t. There was no telling what Palpatine knew or what his plan was.

Fox needed to keep things tight and the number of people involved small. He needed to rethink his strategy. Whether the bill passed or failed would still give him useful knowledge. The whole point of this exercise was to stir the pot and see what floated to the surface as a result. And he got what he wanted. Palpatine had shown that he was potentially monitoring him and Ahsoka and was not threatened by their collaboration. Either because he was playing right into his hands or he had something else up his sleeve. He could work with this information. Right now, Amidala didn’t need to get involved.

He turned to face her fully. “I’m not sure the bill will pass,” he lied. “And I’m worried I may have bit off more than I can chew jumping out of the gate with this one.”

She put a hand on his forearm and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Remember, sometimes just getting the conversation started is enough.”

He nodded and turned his attention back to the debate floor. She was right about that. Getting the conversation started was enough. He’d have to figure out a way to relay his findings to Cody without arousing more suspicion. And he was starting to wonder just what he had gotten himself involved in.

What greater game was Palpatine playing, and how were the clones involved?

*****

The rest of the day had dragged on forever, in Fox’s opinion. Not only did he have to read bills, vote on bills, debate bills, and write bills, but Palpatine seemed to think he needed to be on every decision-making committee the Senate had to offer.

He said that since Fox seemed to want to take a more active role in policy-making, then he should be involved in as much as possible.

Fox thought that Palpatine was trying to overload him with work until he had a nervous breakdown and quit.

Ha! Jokes on him, Fox was too dead inside to have a nervous breakdown!

Still, despite the initial positive response to the pension and job training bill he had introduced that day, Palpatine’s reaction had soured everything.

Fox could barely focus on any of his work as his mind continually mulled over how to deal with the situation. He needed to call Cody, but he also shouldn’t contact him immediately since Palpatine probably was monitoring him now that he had gotten himself involved. Maybe he could ask Thorn to message Gree to message Cody to message him? Or something like that?

He frowned. Somehow, he felt like Palpatine would still somehow manage to trace it back to him. Maybe he should let the pension bill play out first and then report to Cody. Or maybe he should purposefully seed something incriminating that would force Palpatine to act to prove he was watching him?

No, that was a stupid idea. Anything incriminating could get him decommissioned. And, it wasn’t like Palpatine was breaking the law. Technically, he had every right to monitor their communications. It was a matter of security. Fox wouldn’t prove anything by getting evidence that Palpatine was spying. Was it even spying if you knew the person was doing it?

Before he could make a decision, a message came through the chat he and Blitz had set up specifically to talk about politics.

He groaned, debated if he could ignore it, decided that he couldn’t, and looked at it.

CommanderBlitz: Great Speech today, Vod. You were really ON iN there.

Fox groaned once more and tossed the datapad down. He dug out the shiny armor they used when they didn’t want to be recognized and put it on. While anyone else might look at that and think it was a simple typo, Blitz had capitalized other letters, it was a coded message. “ON iN” stood for “Off Network Now”. That was worrying. Blitz didn’t usually need privacy away from prying eyes. Did he realize what Fox had realized? Or did something else happen?

He couldn’t bring Cody in on this now. It would look too suspicious. And the same typo repeated in such a short amount of time by two different troopers would raise more red flags. Fuck, they needed a better system to talk to one another. Something that didn’t require going to dive bars and switching up codes every month so people didn’t get suspicious.

He stepped out of his office and walked by Stone’s desk, knocking on it twice as he did so. Another code. Do not acknowledge me. I’m not Fox right now.

Stone did exactly as they practiced and didn’t even look up from his work. Two taps of his left index finger indicated he got the message.

So many codes and sneaking around. One would think he and his brothers were planning a coup or something. It should not be this difficult to get some privacy. He should not have to work this hard to talk to his brothers without worrying about who was listening in.

Complaining about it wasn’t going to change anything, though. He had to accept that.

He stalked through the streets of Coruscant to the worst place in the entire galaxy, 79s.

He had been to 79s many times in the past. More times than he had ever wanted to be there. Mostly to help round up drunk troops who were making fools of themselves. But, because Cody was a paranoid bastard who insisted they needed a way to talk away from the prying eyes of the GAR, it was also a place for clandestine meetings. Wolffe managed to get them some sort of holoprojector. Fox didn’t ask where he got it. He had a feeling that asking too many questions would lead to answers he didn’t want to know. And the owner of 79s agreed to let them use the little room in the back. For a fee of course. That coupled with a spare set of shiny armor to disguise themselves and viola! A place they could talk without worrying about anyone listening in.

Fox had initially thought the whole setup was stupid and overkill. Anyone using it was probably doing something they weren’t supposed to be and they would find out.

And now he was trying to figure out ways to expand this enterprise so he didn’t have to jump through so many hoops.

When had being a clone trooper become so complicated?

He paid the bartender a portion of his meager stipend and said yet another code word. He was led to the back, idly wondering how the hell Blitz managed to find a secure place on Kamino to talk. He had to have found a secure place. Why would he send a coded message otherwise?

He pulled up his datapad and sent another coded message.

CommanderFox: Thank you. I hate Politics.

The call came in a minute later.

“How’d you get something off-network while on Kamino?” he asked, eager to hear his answer.

Blitz shrugged. “I asked Tech to whip something up. Couldn’t follow his explanation worth a damn but if he says it works, then I trust him.”

He paused, looking thoughtful for a second. “Do you think I should be worried about how quickly they all are to commit treason? Is this even treason?”

Fox shrugged. “I have too many problems to worry about your defective batch of clones.”

Tech, huh? That was an option. He’d look into it later. Right now, he needed to find out what Blitz wanted.

“Alright, out with it. Why’d you want to talk? I have more meetings than there are hours in a day. What’s so important you needed to talk to me now off the network in some dirty dive bar?”

“Where did you get the numbers for the military operations?” He cut straight to the point.

“The budget reports from last fiscal year. That was the amount they signed into law. Why?”

“Because those numbers don’t make sense,” Blitz said.

Fox furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”

He looked around, checking to make sure no one was listening in, and then leaned in close, keeping his voice low. “I only know this because when I saw you were planning on mentioning it during your speech, I dug around the Kaminoan budget. Unless there is a huge chunk I’m missing, the cloning and training operations are only about an eighth of what you stated in your speech. Where’s the rest of the money going?”

“It’s not just cloning and training, though. They’ve got contractors for medical supplies, ships, munitions, and bases. Not to mention food and other gear we use. Plus contractor fees for all of that.”

“I know, I know. And I didn’t have time to dig around into all of that, but it still feels like the number is too high. I don’t like it, Fox. Something else is going on here.”

“Embezzlement, then?” Fox said. “Maybe Burtoni and Lama Su are skimming some off the top. Corruption is rife in the Senate. I’m sure others are getting in on the action. And because the cost of the war is so high, no one bats an eye.”

Blitz didn’t look convinced. “That’s a lot of money to be embezzling. What would they even spend it all on?”

Fox thought about it for a moment. He did not believe in coincidences. Palpatine feeling threatened by Fox and Ahsoka and now this? Something big was going on here. Something intertwining all of these issues together. And no matter how they intertwined, it all seemed to connect back to Palpatine.

“Let’s assume that you're right and the military spending budget isn’t just going towards the war but something else. Something that we aren’t privy to. What do you want us to do about it? I guess I could bring it up to Amidala and see what she suggests as her next course of action.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea either,” Blitz said. “Amidala is known for going off on her own and getting in over her head. She’s good at what she does, but we need to be in control as much as possible. Besides, we don’t know how high this goes.”

“Palpatine,” Fox answered immediately.

“Okay, but who else is involved? What if Senator Amidala is just playing you to keep an eye on you? What if they all are? The Senate is corrupt, Fox. This whole galaxy is corrupt! If we make one wrong move, if we tell the wrong person, it will be very easy to wipe us off the map. Frame us as crazy conspiracy theorists working to usurp the government.”

Blitz’s accusation that Senator Amidala might not be as morally just as she appeared hurt Fox. He felt strangely defensive of her. He wanted to argue that there was no way she was playing Fox; getting close to him so she could stop him before he uncovered something.

But, someone was monitoring him and Ahsoka.

More money was being spent on the war than they could account for.

Palpatine was not the kind, grandfatherly figure he appeared to be.

Fox was not as powerful as he wanted to be.

Never assume you have the upper hand on the enemy.

Trust no one but your brothers.

Padme Amidala was a senator in a corrupt government. She could play the act of a charitable politician very well. She could be a plant to keep Fox from getting too close to the truth. Blitz was right. Until they knew what was going on here, they had to keep information to themselves.

“Then we’re just going to have to follow the money trail. And we’re going to have to see what the government officials talk about when we’re not around.” Fox said. “Do the Kaminoans have meetings without you?”

“They’re not supposed to. But let’s face it, we all know they hold secret get-togethers and do everything in their power to keep me as far away from the government as possible.”

He thought about the GAR network. How everything was monitored and recorded, even if there wasn’t someone actively watching it. Just passively gathering information to be used at a later date.

“Maybe it’s time we do to them what they do to us,” he said. “See if you can’t plant a listening device or something.”

“Is that legal?”

“Eh...” Fox shrugged. “Look, you’re supposed to be privy to all talks related to the government. It’s not your fault if they don’t invite you. You’re just making sure you get all the information you’re entitled to.”

Blitz wasn’t convinced. “I’ll… I’ll think about it. This is probably the only chance we’re going to get at this. I don’t want to be caught illegally recording them. Besides, they’re allowed to have meetings with just a few of them. I'm sure you have private meetings with senators all the time."

Damn, he was right about that. “Fine, I won’t pressure you. I’m still going to look through the budget breakdowns and see if I can’t find where this money is going.”

“If they’re to cover it up, then won’t they have erased the evidence?” he asked.

Fox shook his head. “No. If this was something sanctioned by Palpatine or the Senate, there has to be a record. It’s a bureaucracy. Nothing happens without a paper trail. Somewhere along the line, someone mentioned it in a memo, a message, a recording, or something. And someone somewhere forgot to delete it.”

“You’re going to get this information legally, right?”

“Of course. As a representative, I have access to the Senate archives.” He groaned and scrubbed a hand down his face. “Of course, I don’t really have time to be looking and I don’t want to take things out since they track that. I’m already being watched by Palpatine. If I start digging around the budgetary reports it might raise even more red flags.”

“Palpatine’s watching you?” Blitz asked, shocked by his casual admission. “Like, actively monitoring you?”

“I don’t have proof, but I do have reason to believe he gained access to the conversation Ahsoka, Cody, and I had last week. He wasn’t surprised when I brought the bill up and didn’t seem that bothered by it.”

“Haar’chak! That’s not good.”

“I know that. Which is why I need to be careful.”

“Can you switch your armor with another Corrie? Most people can’t tell us apart.”

“I might have to do that to keep up with my work. I’ll try and do it on my own at first. Maybe start with the contract for the Kaminoans and work my way from there.”

Blitz nodded. “Be careful, vod. Look, I know you want to rock the boat and see what happens, but doing that might get a hit put out on you. And, no offense, but I think it’d be easier to kill you than it would one of the senators.”

“No, I’m too high profile at the moment. They wouldn’t want to risk it.” His brow furrowed. “You, on the other hand, all the way out in Kamino, are a different story.”

“I’ll be fine, Fox.”

“No, no you’re too isolated. It’d be too easy to kill you. Don’t go anywhere alone, Blitz. I don’t care if you have to share a bed with Wrecker and have Hammer put a leash on you. Have someone watching your back at all times.”

“General Tii is here,” he said.

“The Jedi can’t protect you from everything,” Fox replied.

He didn’t have particularly high opinions on the Jedi. Actually, he didn’t have opinions in general on them. He knew the rest of his brothers were very protective of their Jedi and seemed to generally think highly of them. But, as Fox didn’t have a Jedi General to watch his back, he didn’t trust them like he did his brothers. Blitz might think Tii could protect him from a Kaminoan assassin, but Fox would rather put his faith in his brothers.

“Watch your back,” he said.

“Fine. As long as you watch yours,” Blitz said. “I know you think you’re too high profile, but that might be exactly what Palpatine wants.”

“Fine,” he conceded. “I’ll talk to you later, brother.”

“Ret’urcye mhi.” Blitz turned off the holoprojector and left Fox alone with his thoughts.

He scrubbed a hand down his face. All he wanted was to help his brothers. How did it turn into this? He stood up and put on his helmet. Yet another thing added to his to-do list. No matter. He was getting to the bottom of this whether Palpatine liked it or not. Palpatine may be watching him. But he was not going to defeat him.

*****

CommanderWolffe: I saw Howzer’s new haircut the other day

CommanderCody: No

CommanderWolffe: You don’t even know what I was going to say next!

CommanderCody: No, you are not getting a fade like Howzer.

CommanderWolffe: But I would look so good with it.

CommanderGree: We know. That’s the problem.

CommanderWolffe: How is that a problem? It’s not a problem when Howzer looks good!

CommanderWilco: Because Howzer’s not a slut.

CommanderPonds: I shudder to think what the galaxy would look like if Wolffe was more attractive

CommanderWolffe: It’s like the controlled 5 o’clock shadow debate all over again.

CommanderCody: Look, you already have the scar that makes you rugged. We can’t have you looking even better. That’d make it too easy for you.

CommanerWolffe: Then how come no one is worried that it’s going to be “too easy” for Howzer?

CommanderGree: Because Howzer is a gentleman. A busty twi’lek could throw themselves at him and ask if there’s any way they could repay him. And he’d look down at her all serious-like and say, ‘Serving the Republic is payment enough’

CommanderMonnk: Busty twi’leks throwing themselves at your feet is a fantasy of yours, eh Gree?

CommanderGree: Shut up, you know I’m right.

CommanderWolffe: Y’all can’t stop me if I want a fade.

CommanderCody: Oh we couldn’t. But Sinker and Boost would be all for shaving the rest of your hair off if I asked nicely

CommanderWolffe: Traitor! Turning my own men against me.

CommanderPonds: It’s for the good of the Republic.

Chapter Text

The camera’s focus was all wrong as three blurry troopers sat on the other side.

“You got it?”

“No, Fives, press the button there. That button! Why are you so bad at this?”

“I got it. I got. Don’t get your blacks in a twist.” Thankfully, Fives did in fact have it as the focus finally cleared and showed Fives, Echo, and Jesse all sitting in front of the camera.

“There we go,” Fives smiled, scooting back so he was shoulder to shoulder with his brothers.

“I cannot believe you roped me into doing, this,” Echo groaned.

“Come on, vod, it’ll be fun,” Jesse said, slapping Echo’s back.

“It’ll give me a headache, that’s what it’ll do.”

“Don’t be such a sour puss,” Fives said. “Alright, hello holonet! No Ahsoka today. She’s meditating or something. This is a special episode. It’s been a question a lot of people have been asking and we’re going to answer it today. Yes. I am single. You can message me on my commlink here!” Fives grinned and pointed to what was probably intended to be a graphic that told the audience how to contact him.

Instead, Echo’s eyes went wide and he leaped in front of his brothers, waving his arms frantically. “No, no, don’t put that down. Whoever is editing this video, do not put how to contact Fives!”

“Why not?” Fives asked as Jesse pulled Echo back to being seated.

“Because that’s a huge security violation.”

Fives rolled his eyes. “And Echo is also single if anyone wants to try and make him ‘fun’.”

“We’ve already tried,” Jesse said, shaking his head and tutting. “It’s a lost cause.”

“I am fun!” Echo cried.

Jesse and Fives kept shaking their heads.

“I am! I’m here aren’t I?”

“Only because we threatened to tell the Captain about the time you snuck that chargrian into the—”

Echo dove across Jesse’s lap to clamp a hand over Fives’ mouth before he could finish that sentence.

“Everyone wants to know if we have some sort of marching song or shanty or something we sing and the answer is yes!” Echo said loudly.

Fives shoved his hand away and Jesse hauled him back to his seat.

“Yup! We sing. A lot. Not much to do when you’re sitting in space for weeks on end and all the cleaning and maintenance of weapons and ships and whatnot get a little boring,” Jesse added. “So we got our songs.”

“Every battalion has their own unique list that they sing, but there is some overlap,” Fives said. “And, of course, the 501st is the best. Because we are the best in everything we do.”

“Right,” Echo said. “And so these two dikute have managed to convince me to join them in singing it.”

“Yup!” Jesse grinned. “Alright, we’re just going to do one. It’s ‘The Battleships’.”

He started clapping his hands at a regular beat and started to sing.

Many shuttles take to space.
The clone army they do encase.
The gunners roar. The corridors shake.
Oh fire my brothers go (huh)

Echo and Fives joined in.

Soon may the Battleships come
To bring us bacta and rounds and guns
One day, when the fighting is done,
We’ll bury our brothers and go

She’d not been two ‘secs from ground
When down on her, a right fighter bore
The captain called all hands and swore
He’d take that ship in tow (huh)

Soon may the Battleships come
To bring us bacta and rounds and guns
One day, when the fighting is done,
We’ll bury our brothers and go

Hardcase and Hawke stuck their heads in the room.

“Oh, you guys are doing songs?” Hardcase asked.

“Hush, you’re ruining the beat,” Fives said.

“Nah, we’re getting in on this. Budge over,” Hawke said, squishing the three of them to the side as he and Hardcase found space on the bench.

Jesse rolled his eyes and continued to sing.

No ship was stopped, no fighter’s freed
The captain’s mind was not of greed
And he belonged to the Republic’s creed
He took that ship in tow (huh)

Soon may the Battleship come
To bring us bacta and rounds and guns
One day when the fighting is done
We’ll bury our brothers and go.

For forty rounds or even more
The fire goes quiet then roars once more
All pods were lost, there were only four
But still that ship did go (huh)

Soon may the Battleships come
To bring us bacta and rounds and guns
One day when the fighting is done
We’ll take our bury our brothers and go.

As far as I’ve heard, the battle’s still on
The fighting’s not done and the fighters not gone
The troopers make their regular calls
To encourage captain, squads, and all (huh)

Soon may the battleships come
To bring us bacta and rounds and guns.
One day when the fighting is done
We’ll bury our brothers and go.

They finished the song with smiles on their faces.

“And that, dear viewers, is the best shanty of the GAR. Don’t let anyone tell you differently,” Fives said. “See you guys soon. And we promise next time Ahsoka will be here. That kid’s not going anywhere for a long time.”

*****

Rex often felt like something was wrong with the universe. In many ways, he supposed this was an obvious statement. The galaxy was currently at war. The Republic was corrupt. His brothers were slaves. His commander was a child. And he wasn’t expected to live to see the end of the year.

But, every once in a while, that general feeling of wrongness sharpened. It was almost this imperceptible tang in the air. A slight buzzing in the back of his head. A strange itch in his muscles that made him restless.

He felt that now.

Standing in one of the war rooms while Ahsoka went over the plan for their next mission one last time.

Something was wrong.

Something was wrong with this mission.

As soon as he heard what they would be doing, the sense of wrongness sharpened and settled deep into his bones.

On the surface, the mission didn’t appear to be anything worth worrying about. General Windu and his men had been engaged in a planet-side battle and managed to clear out most of the Seppies. But, he was needed at another conflict somewhere else and had to leave before they could fully clear the planet. According to the intel, there wasn’t much left. A few roving bands of B1s that would probably get themselves killed even without GAR interference. But there had been a few strongholds on the planet. One at the capitol, and another at the largest city. Their mission was to do one last sweep of the planet, clear out the rest of the clankers, and see if any of the data from those strongholds could be salvaged.

Again, it didn’t sound like a suspicious mission or anything. They had done similar runs before.

But it was wrong.

For one thing: General Skywalker and Admiral Yularen wouldn’t be joining them. Nor would General Kenobi. Or Windu. Or Fisto. Or Koon. Or Unduli. Or Secura. Or any other general. Nope, this mission was being run completely by Ahsoka by herself.

She had jumped at the chance to run a mission like this and prove herself to the rest of the Jedi and GAR that she wasn’t some little kid.

Rex thought she had proved that plenty with her past successes and quick thinking on the battlefield. Even with those past successes, though, he still felt like this was too much responsibility.

He would never tell her this out loud and he did his best not to think about it. But Ahsoka was still a kid. A kid with less than a year of battle experience under her belt. A kid that still would make plans and then look to either Rex or General Skywalker for approval. A kid that still struggled with impulsiveness and recklessness.

Ahsoka was good at fighting.

She was good at war (something Rex hated to even acknowledge). But she was still just a kid. She still needed someone older to keep her grounded. An authority figure that could pull her back if need be. Technically, with Skywalker and Yularen gone, Ahsoka was the commanding officer. There was no one else above her.

Rex didn’t like it.

It was wrong.

This whole thing was wrong.

Even General Kenobi thought so and argued against the mission assignment, offering to send Cody at the very least to help them out.

Which is when it was revealed that the Jedi council wasn’t the one that came up with this mission.

It had come from the top.

Chancellor Palpatine himself had decided where everyone would be and who would be doing what. Palpatine wanted this taken care of and he wanted it done by the end of the day.

”General,” he had said to Kenobi, “I understand your trepidation, but we must recover that data as fast as possible. I fear the Separatists will scrub it before we have a chance to learn anything of value.”

“Then let my commander go to aid in the mission,” General Kenobi pleaded.

Palpatine’s eyes narrowed. “Do you not think Padawan Tano is capable of leading such a mission?”

Ahsoka looked at General Kenobi. She looked betrayed. Smaller and younger than Rex remembered her being.

“It’s not that,” General Kenobi hurried to say. “There are no other battalions in that area and it is on the outer rim in a very turbulent part of the Galaxy. If something goes wrong, it will be nearly impossible for us to give aid quickly. Such a burden is a lot to put on a youngling’s shoulders.”

“I’ll be fine, Master Obi-Wan,” Ahsoka said. “Master Windu did a great job clearing the planet and there are currently no Separatists in the area. We’ll be in and out in a day and then join back up with you and Anakin.”

General Kenobi was not convinced.

“I’m sorry, Master Jedi,” Palpatine said. “But we cannot spare anyone else at the moment. There are too many high-profile battles going on now. As the little one has said, it should be a fairly straightforward and easy mission. Or, as straightforward and easy as war is.”

And that was that. Ahsoka was now leading a mission completely alone and cut off from the rest of the GAR. Oh, sure, Skywalker and Kenobi had joined in on the planning session over the holoprojector. But once they hit the ground, she’d be all alone.

It almost felt like this was a move in dejarik. And while Rex didn’t normally mind feeling like a pawn moved to certain locations to gain advantages over their enemies- this was war after all that was literally the purpose of stationing troops in certain areas- this was different. It felt like they were being sent out as sacrificial pawns.

It felt like Ahsoka was a sacrificial pawn.

It was the first time in his life Rex could remember wanting to disobey orders since he had left Kamino. There had been times when he questioned orders or felt unsure of the orders he was given. But this was the first time since the war had started that he almost mutinied, took control of the ship, and turned them the hell around. Screw Palpatine. Screw the Jedi Council. Screw the war. He was not letting anyone on this ship be sacrificial pawns for a mission that was certainly going to go wrong.

Only, he didn’t do that.

He didn’t disobey orders.

He didn’t argue with the council or the chancellor about their piss-poor planning and their brilliant strategy of sending a fourteen-year-old to go lead an entire campaign by herself. He was a clone. He did not have the luxury of disobeying orders. He did not have the luxury of arguing. He did not have the luxury to demand more time to scout the planet or wait for more troops.

Palpatine wanted this done today. And he wanted Ahsoka to do it.

There was nothing Rex could do to stop it. After all, even General Kenobi couldn’t manage to convince Palpatine to let Cody go with them. What the hell was a slave that barely had representation in the Senate supposed to do about it?

He would be on his guard and on his toes. He always was on missions. It would be suicide not to. But he would be much more cautious. And he didn’t care how much Ahsoka hated him for it, he would be taking control of the mission if it got out of hand. He was going to get his brothers and his little sister off this planet in one piece.

“Alright, any questions?” Ahsoka asked as she finished up their final briefing with a bright smile.

The soldiers in the room all shook their heads. Everyone seemed as tense as Rex.

“Oh, come on, guys. Lighten up. I’m not that bad.”

“No, it’s not you, sir,” Colt said. “It’s the fact that we feel very isolated. Moreso than normal.”

“Everything’s going to be fine.” She assured him. “We’ve already run scans of the planet several times. And Master Windu is good at what he does. We’ll be in and out in no time.”

“Of course,” Echo said, quickly coming to support Ahsoka.

“Right, men,” Jesse said. “You’ve got your assignments from the commander. Let’s get ready to move out in fifteen. Oya!”

“Oya!” the rest of the troops shouted, filing out of the room. Ahsoka trotted after them, joking with Echo and Hardcase.

Rex sighed and massaged the back of his neck.

“Sir, we need to talk,” someone said.

He looked up to see Fives still in the room.

“Fives? What is it? What’s wrong?” A lot of things were wrong, but he was hoping Fives had something a bit more concrete for evidence. Maybe then they could call the whole thing off.

“It’s the mission. I don’t trust it.”

“Do you have any proof that something’s up? Intel or something that you found?”

Fives hesitated and then shook his head. “No. But… this whole thing is weird! I know you feel it too. Everyone does.”

“And what do you want me to do about it?”

“Call off the mission!”

“Fives—”

“No, listen to me, Rex, this whole thing is going to go south I can feel it.”

“Your feelings aren’t proof. I can’t call anything off because you feel uneasy.” He went to step past Fives before things escalated.

Fives wasn’t having it and grabbed his arm, yanking him back in front of him.

“Watch yourself, trooper,” Rex warned.

“No, listen to me. Why isn’t Skywalker here?”

“Because he’s on a mission with General Kenobi on the other side of the galaxy. It’s not the first time Ahsoka and Skywalker have been separated.”

“Fine, okay. But why is she alone, then?”

“She’s a capable commander. One of the best. And the mission is simple. She’s done similar things like this, by herself, before.” At this point, he wasn’t trying to convince Fives, he was trying to convince himself.

He went to step past Fives once more. Fives reacted the exact same way, pushing him back, leaving his hand on his chest to pin him there.

“Fives, if you stop me from leaving again and I will court-martial you.”

“You’re not listening to me, Rex.”

“That’s Captain to you, trooper.”

“Fine, captain,” Fives practically spat. “I know that Ahsoka’s done similar missions on her own before but we’ve never been this isolated. Something is wrong. We have to call it off.”

“We can’t. We need to clear the rest of the clankers and get the data before the Separatists can scrub it.”

“Do we even know if there’s data down there to collect? Let’s just do an air raid on the remaining clankers and call it a day. It’s probably nothing.”

“That is not an option. If there is even a chance that there is intel that can end the war, we are taking it. Besides, it is not up to us. It is up to the council and the Senate. And they both say that Commander Tano can do this mission alone.”

“This is a set-up, Captain! Come on, I know you feel it too! I know you think something weird is going on too!”

Rex’s eyes flickered up to the camera, just behind Fives, recording everything.

“And we are not going to find out what that is unless we get on the ground and do our job.”

“Then leave Ahsoka behind! She can stay on the ship and direct troops from here like other generals and we do the ground assault.”

“Fives—”

“We can tell her Skywalker sent her a message and then while she’s busy, we can sneak out. She won’t even know we’re gone.”

“Fives!”

“And, if this really is an easy, in and out mission then I’ll tell her it was all my idea and she can be mad at me—”

“Fives, stand down! Now!” Rex shouted. His voice echoed through the empty room.

Fives jumped and snapped his mouth shut.

“The chancellor himself set this mission up. The council approved it. If they did not think we could complete it successfully, they would have said so. Which means that Commander Tano is going to lead one team through the city while another team goes to the Capitol. You are going to listen to her orders or mine and you will not question them. You will not trick her into staying in the ship and you will not ever doubt her abilities to lead again. Is that understood?”

“So, you’re just going to send her down there where she could die?”

“Is that understood?” Rex shouted once more.

He agreed with Fives. He really did. Something was wrong. Ahsoka should stay up here until they figured out what. But they didn’t have that luxury. And he couldn’t risk her catching onto this since it might cloud her judgment. She was a teenager. A child looking for recognition in a place where bloodshed surrounded her. If she heard any of what Fives had just said, she might run off on her own to prove him wrong. It was a stupid, impulsive, reckless thing to do. But she was a kid. They weren’t known for their stellar decision-making skills. Which is why Rex had to make this mission run as smoothly as possible. He couldn’t get them out of it. Ahsoka couldn’t get them out of it. Not unless they had some proof. Which they didn’t. This meant that whether they liked it or not, they were going to that planet’s surface and they were clearing the city and capital. And that required Fives to quit acting like some insubordinate cadet.

Fives opened his mouth to argue once more but thought better of it and snapped it shut. “Yes, sir,” he growled. “Never pegged you for one who follows orders without question.”

Rex didn’t respond to him, shoving past him to finally leave the room. Fives didn’t stop him this time.

He was barely out the door when he ran into Ahsoka.

Literally ran into her. So lost in his thoughts he bowled straight over and knocked her to the ground.

“Shit, I’m sorry, kid,” he said, grabbing ahold of her hand and hoisting her to her feet.

“No, it’s okay. I was looking for you anyways,” she said. She smiled at him, but it was tight and laced with anxiety. “Is everything okay? You feel mad?”

“Everything’s fine, kid,” he responded, feeling very tired and old.

Ahsoka crossed her arms and glared at him. “Don’t lie to me. I know you call me ‘kid’ but I don’t appreciate being treated as one. If we’re going to do this mission, I need to know that you trust me. What’s going on?”

Damn, she knew the right things to say to break down all his barriers and walls. It was annoying.

He sighed and massaged his brow. “Can’t get anything past you. Can I? Fives thinks there’s something fishy about the mission. I do too, but we don’t exactly have the time to do a full scouting party to do a ground sweep before commencing the ground assault. Fives wants us to pull back, but we don’t have the authority to do that either.”

“Oh,” Ahsoka’s face softened. “Why didn’t he talk to me about it?”

“Don’t take it personally, kid,” Rex said. “I think he mostly just wanted to yell about it but didn’t want to yell at you about it. He likes you too much for that.”

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. “Alright. Do you need me to talk to him?”

“No, I took care of it. Don’t worry.”

“Sounds like I should be.” She bit her lip. “I feel it too, you know. The fact that there’s something wrong with this mission. But I don’t know what to do about it. You’re right. We can’t leave.”

“Maybe we can do a flyover scouting party,” Rex said. “Havoc and Smoke can go out and do a visual check of the city and capitol then send us the report.”

“It would take less time and visual confirmation would help us get a better idea of what’s down there,” Ahsoka agreed. “We could at least make sure it’s not a trap.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Rex said. “Come on, let’s go tell the boys.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to talk to Fives?”

Rex looked over his shoulder at the war room. Fives had yet to come out.

“No, give him some time. It won’t impact the mission. He’s good like that.”

“Alright. Let’s go get this thing done.” She punched him lightly in the arm. “I’ve also learned from Anakin that the longer you’re in one place, the more likely something is to go wrong.”

“I think that’s just a Skywalker problem,” Rex laughed. “He’s a disaster magnet. I wouldn’t be surprised if these bad feelings we’re all having are not about our mission, but about his.”

Ahsoka grinned. “I feel so bad for Master Obi-Wan, having to raise him and train him. It’s a wonder he doesn’t have more gray hair.”

“It’s a wonder I’m not gray dealing with you and Skywalker.”

“We’re not that bad!”

“I beg to disagree.”

Despite their light-hearted teasing, the worry in Rex’s gut did not go away. And he had a feeling that it would not go away until the mission was complete, they were back on the ship, and they could confidently say it was not a trap.

*****

It was a trap.

Even with Smoke and Havoc doing a flyover and confirming visually the number of droids left wandering the surface, as soon as Rex and Ahsoka’s team got to the city center, they had been ambushed.

The battle was a bit too chaotic for Rex to figure out how in the Galaxy the droids had managed to escape detection. But, he did remember, distantly, that Gree had encountered a similar problem a while back. For some reason, the droids weren’t registering on their scanners. That was going to be a problem.

Specifically, future Rex’s problem. Because current Rex’s problem was trying to figure out how to keep everyone alive and complete the mission.

“We need to fall back!” Jesse cried over the blaster fire.

Seriously, how did Windu miss this big of a droid army still on the planet’s surface? How did Havoc and Smoke? Even if their scanners didn’t pick them up, they would have seen them visually! There had to be some sort of tunnel system they didn’t know about. Again, future Rex’s problem.

“We don’t have anywhere to fall back to!” Rex replied. “Dogma’s team is on their way and Hawke’s got air support inbound in fifteen.”

Luckily, Rex and Ahsoka had been ambushed first, which meant they were able to call up Dogma and warn him before they were wiped off the map. They had been able to clear their droid army a lot faster because of it.

“Fifteen?” Jesse cried. “Haar’chak! We don’t have fifteen minutes! I don’t even think we have fifteen seconds!”

“It’s the best we’re going to get! The desert outside the city is too open and there’s no cover. We’ll be picked off faster than we would be staying in here. Hold your positions! Hukaat’kama! I’m going to tell the commander.”

“Yes, sir!” Jesse replied.

Rex started making his way towards Ahsoka, ducking from rubble pile to rubble pile, doing his best to avoid blaster shots. A couple got too close for comfort, grazing his armor and leaving scorch marks on the white and blue. Thankfully, he didn’t get hit.

It was strange. He thought after the ambush the feeling of wrongness would go away. They had discovered what was causing so much unease. He should be fully present in the situation now.

But there was still something wrong.

Something he couldn’t place his finger on.

Why did the droids hide in the first place? Why did they not engage with General Windu? Why did they hide until Rex and Ahsoka were all the way in the city?

He kept his head on a swivel as he approached Ahsoka, still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Waiting for the entire plan to reveal itself.

Ahsoka was out in front of everyone, like always. Her lightsaber spun so quickly it was hard to tell where the blade actually was as all he could see was a circle that made a shield. She kept up with the impressive display of speed and agility. A true combat prodigy as she sliced her way through the army like they were made of paper. She was completely focused on the battle in front of her, almost in a meditative state as she took down droid after droid.

“Commander!” he called, loathed to break her concentration. But, he needed to talk to her.

She hopped back so she was closer to his rubble pile. Still slightly out in front, though. Almost as if she was protecting him.

“Good news?” she asked.

Rex heard Jesse call for a forward push while sending a squad of shinies to flank the left. If they could just surround them, they might be able to win this thing.

“Mediocre news,” he responded. “Hawke and Dogma are on their way. ETA fifteen minutes.”

“I don’t think we have fifteen minutes,” Ahsoka said.

“Can’t really do anything else at the moment.”

“No, we can. Send Echo and Fives to try and find the tunnels they hid in. We can collapse them and put these tinnies in a hole.”

“Good plan, commander. I’ll let the boys know. Don’t really like that we’re going to be down two men, though.”

“Me neither. But, unless you have a better idea, I’m all ears.”

He didn’t. They didn’t have enough men to do a proper flanking maneuver. Most of their platoon had been wiped out in the initial ambush. Ahsoka was right. If they could find the tunnel system and set some charges, they might just be able to collapse enough of the street to bury a few of these clankers.

He sat fully behind the rubble pile, trusting Ahsoka to watch his back while he relayed their new plan to Fives, Echo, and Jesse.

He never got a chance to relay the message.

Rex was a highly trained soldier. One of the best in the GAR, if he were being honest. Cody had practically forced him through the command track even though he wasn’t supposed to do that. Rex regularly scored top of his class in everything. He was good at what he did. And Part of being a good soldier was somehow being able to see what was going on all around you. He didn’t have 360-degree vision, enhanced senses, or Force osik that could tell you things. But he was damn good at noticing when things were wrong and acting on those observations quickly. Sometimes, he wasn’t even sure what tipped him off. But he didn’t hesitate. He trusted his gut, followed his line of sight, and reacted immediately. It’s what kept him and his men alive.

When he raised his wrist to access his commlink, there was a glare there. A glare that should not be there based on the building materials that surrounded them.

He didn’t hesitate.

He followed that glare of light up to a taller building about 200 meters away. His heart fell from his chest when he realized what it was.

“We got a sniper on the roof!” he shouted, whipping back towards Ahsoka. It felt necessary to make sure she knew first.

Time seemed to slow down.

Ahsoka, distracted by his cry, turned ever so slightly to look at him.

He thought he heard the shot ring out.

That probably wasn’t the case. There was so much blaster fire from both armies it would be impossible to determine which shot was the shot.

But it didn’t matter because he could hear it.

And he could see it.

Out of the corner of his eye.

A red bolt streaked through the air.

He watched it.

He followed it.

He saw it hit its mark.

He saw Ahsoka’s body jerk back, spinning her as she crumpled to the ground. She had been too distracted to block it with her lightsaber.

It was his fault for distracting her.

Her head smacked against the ground. Time resumed its normal pace.

“Ahsoka!” Rex shouted. “Echo, Fives, after him!”

He didn’t know if the sniper was a commando droid or something else. He didn’t care. He wanted it dead. He wanted it brought before him on its knees so he could execute it.

Fives and Echo didn’t hesitate to follow his orders. They were a blur of blue and white, taking off in the direction of the sniper, firing at it.

Rex couldn’t bring himself to care or watch them.

He had abandoned his cover.

Jesse was shouting something. Some sort of orders.

Rex should be shouting orders right now.

With Ahsoka…

With Ahsoka…

He was going to be sick.

She was so far away.

Wasn’t she right next to him a few seconds ago?

Why was she so far away?

Ahsoka was down.

Rex was the one in charge.

He should be giving orders, not Jesse.

He couldn’t get the orders to come.

It felt like all the air had been punched out of his lungs and his body moved without his command. Somehow, he managed to make it to Ahsoka without getting hit. He grabbed her lightsaber and hooked it on his belt before turning to Ahsoka.

He needed to get her out of the line of fire. Kix always said you weren’t supposed to move a person in case they had a head or spinal injury, and Ahsoka had smacked her head when she fell. He could see the blood pooling around it. And around her chest. Where she had been…

Where the sniper had…

A blaster bolt grazed his left arm, enough so that it bit through the plastoid and caused pain to flair up. He had to get her out of here. Kix could heal a spinal injury. He couldn’t heal death.

He pulled her into his arms, cradling her to his chest and sprinting back to the rubble pile to give them some cover.

He went to call for their medic, commlink slipping in his bloodied fingers, before realizing that they no longer had a medic. Patchwork had died very early on in the battle.

There was only one other option.

Somehow, he got his voice to work. “Kix, it’s Rex. Ahsoka’s been shot. And she hit her head. We’re in the city center. I had to move her. She was in the line of fire still.”

It was probably only thanks to years of training that Rex was able to give Kix this information in the first place. At some point, instinct took over. And he was glad.

“Where was she shot, captain?” His voice was even. Almost calm. He had a lot of practice being the only calm one in a situation. People tended to panic when they called him so he had developed a way of speaking that kept them focused.

Rex swallowed and shifted Ahsoka in his arms to see the damage. He felt like vomiting once more.

There, on her chest, was an ugly, twisted hole. Still smoking from the shot.

“Chest. About where I got shot.” He felt numb saying those words out loud.

“Is she still breathing? Is she awake?”

She was breathing. She had to be breathing. If she wasn’t, that meant she was dead. She couldn’t be dead.

Just as Rex was about to put his fingers to her neck to see if she still had a pulse, he jolted. Ahsoka was, indeed, still awake. Her glassy eyes were trying to focus on him. She reached a shaky hand up and hooked it on the collar of his chest plate. She squeezed it and let out a whimper.

“She’s awake,” he said. “Ahsoka, are you with me? Stay with me, kid. You’re going to be alright.”

Ahsoka’s mouth moved, she was trying to say something. Rex didn’t know if he should stop her or let her speak.

“Alright,” Kix said. “I’m with Dogma. We’re about ten minutes out. Try and keep her awake and calm. No more lightsaber tricks or flips. Is that clear?”

Ahsoka’s hand dropped and he saw tears start to streak down her dust-smudged cheeks.

“Captain!” Kix said, voice sharp and commanding.

“Yeah. Yeah. I’ll keep her awake,” he replied. He reached down and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. She squeezed it back. Barely.

“Good. Ten minutes. We’re almost there.”

Rex didn’t respond, instead focusing all his attention on Ahsoka as the battle continued to rage around them. Everything felt muffled. Like he was hearing the shots from miles away. Jesse was still shouting and leading the charge.

Rex couldn’t take his eyes off Ahsoka. She was so small in his arms. So light. So fragile. Almost like a baby bird, he could crush if he wasn’t careful. As if one wrong shift of her body could kill her.

“You’re okay, vod’ika. You’re okay. Kix is on his way. You got to stay awake though. Can you do that?”

His arms were starting to cramp from holding her, taking all of Ahsoka’s weight and doing his best to keep her off the dirty ground.

“Rex?” Her glassy eyes kept trying to find his face, and her voice was so soft he could barely hear it.

He wondered if he should take off the helmet so she could see him.

“I’m right here, Soka. Just stay awake, okay? Doctor’s orders. You know how Kix gets when his orders aren’t followed.”

She put a hand up to his helmet, mouth still moving as she tried to speak. She pawed at the bottom of it.

“Alright, alright. I can take a hint,” Rex said. He let go of her hand and pulled the helmet off. Probably stupid considering there was still an active battle going on but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He didn’t care what happened to him as long as Ahsoka made it out of this alive.

“Rex?” she said again, her voice cracking as more tears dripped down her cheeks.

“You’re doing great, Soka. Keep it up. Kix is almost here.”

She whimpered and curled into his chest, once more gripping at the neck of his armor. “Hurts.”

“I know it does.” It took a lot of self-control for Rex not to squeeze her in his arms. All he could do was support her.

“Make it stop. Please,” she said.

That request alone destroyed Rex more than any blaster bolt to the heart ever could. “Okay. Okay, I can do that,” he said. “I can make it stop.”

He couldn’t, but maybe if she thought he could some sort of placebo effect would kick in and she’d be more comfortable.

She shuddered in his arms. It was like he could see her skin rapidly paling from the blood loss. Each millisecond Kix wasn’t here she turned even more ashen. Even colder in his arms.

“Soka, talk to me, little one. How are you feeling? Can you breathe okay?”

She didn’t answer. Her breathing was ragged and every once in a while her body shuddered.

“Come, kid, answer me. What’s going on?”

She didn’t answer.

“Ahsoka! Ahsoka!”

No.

No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

He had one job.

Kix had given him one job.

Keep her awake.

She wasn’t awake.

She wasn’t answering him.

“Please, ner ad’ikaGedet’ye, ner kair’ta. Cuyanir, gedet’ye. Gedet’ye. Gedet’ye” He didn’t even know what he was asking for any more. Ahsoka wasn’t responding to him. She wasn’t awake. She wasn’t moving. He wasn’t even sure if she was breathing.

Something shifted the rocks next to him. He pulled out his blaster and aimed it right at whatever droid decided to try and kill Ahsoka. He was very lucky he didn’t pull the trigger. Kix was the one next to him. Not a droid.

“Easy there, captain,” Kix said, holding up his hands.

Corric was with him, already digging through his field kit. There were teeth painted on the zippers.

“Give her to me. We need to work fast, okay?”

Rex hesitated, blaster still outstretched, and pointed at Kix. Some instinctual part of his brain didn't want to hand Ahsoka over to anyone. Like he was the only one who could keep her alive right now.

He fought that part of his brain and lowered his blaster before gently sliding her into Kix’s arms.

Her face was slack.

He hadn’t kept her awake.

Kix didn’t mention it as he and Corric got to work. He pulled out bacta patches and sprays and needles, moving and shifting her around as needed to do whatever it was he needed to do to keep her alive.

He wanted to stay and watch them work. He wanted to be there just in case Ahsoka needed him.

Now that she was with Kix and Corric, his brain was able to compartmentalize the situation better.

He put back on his helmet, grabbed his blaster, and went to go find Jesse. His entire body felt numb and on autopilot.

It was a very good thing Hawke and Dogma were here and Jesse was taking control.

He did his best to command the troops.

He didn’t ask where Echo and Fives were.

He focused on clearing out the rest of the droids.

It was quick work.

They wiped them out in less than five minutes.

There had been data in one of the tactical droids they managed to recover.

It was a successful mission.

It was a victory.

Kix and Corric ran to a gunship with Ahsoka on a stretcher. She was even paler than the last time Rex saw her. Even paler than when she had the blue shadow virus.

It didn’t feel like a victory.

*****

Jesse had his fair share of hard campaigns. He had campaigns that wiped out his entire squad. He had campaigns where the number of casualties was so high the victory felt more bitter than sweet. He had campaigns where they technically won, but only by the skin of their teeth.

Jesse had his fair share of hard campaigns and victories that came at a high cost.

Never before had he felt like victory was more hollow and less deserved than now.

They had completed their mission. They had wiped out the remaining droids and downloaded whatever data was left from the Separatists. But it didn’t matter.

It didn’t matter because Ahsoka had gotten hurt.

Not just hurt, she had almost died.

Kix and Corric never exactly downplayed a person’s injuries, but they always tried to shield the brothers from just how bad it was. Just how close they came to losing one of their own. Jesse had gotten good at telling when things were bad. He knew what Kix looked like when even he wasn’t sure if a patient would pull through. He knew how Corric acted when chances for survival were slim.

Ahsoka had almost died.

It had been a very close call.

And that made their victory hollow.

Rex’s hands wouldn’t stop shaking. He had yet to remove his helmet. There was a small, bloody handprint on his chin. His arms and chest plate were coated in blood.

It made Jesse wonder how much Ahsoka had lost. And how much she could lose before it was too much. Did they even have togruta-friendly blood transfusions on the ship? Jesse decided not to ask. Not that Kix would answer anyways. He had been working on Ahsoka for over an hour while Corric dealt with the rest of the injured men. No one complained. They all had a silent agreement that Ahsoka always came first.

The ship didn’t hum with energy and pleasant moods. Hardcase wasn’t making his usual jokes. Kix wasn’t shouting and threatening to handcuff people to beds if they didn’t stay put. Hawke wasn’t complaining about the mess their dirty kits made in his ship. It was as if a blanket of despair had draped itself over everyone.

And Ahsoka wasn’t even dead!

Yet, at least. Kix had yet to come and tell them that she was going to be okay. And Jesse was aware that even though she was breathing when she left that battlefield, things could turn in an instant. Especially with a shot that close to the heart.

Fuck. What would happen to the 501st if the kid actually died?

They had moved on after losing brothers before. It was practically a daily occurrence. He wasn’t sure if they could move on after losing Ahsoka. Maybe they could go through the motions of war. They could run campaigns and fight in battles. But it would never be the same. They would never be able to recover.

They were back on the ship now. Mission completed, no matter the cost.

Most of them had shoved into the Med Bay, waiting for Kix and Corric to give the news.

Rex stood beside Jesse. He hadn’t said a word since he had handed Ahsoka off to Kix. Jesse wondered if he even was fully present or if he was dissociating. He hadn’t made any acknowledgment of the blood that coated him. Or the fact that there was a nasty blaster wound to his arm that probably needed bacta. Jesse decided not to tell him. If Rex was going into shock any push, no matter how small, might tip him over the edge. Right now, he needed to be strong for the others troopers. If he fell apart, then everyone would fall apart. That would only make things worse.

And Jesse?

Jesse felt like he was the only one on this ship not falling apart. He was the only one on this ship preparing for bad news.

He had to be prepared.

Because if Kix walked out with a grim look on his face and a subtle shake of his head to indicate Ahsoka hadn’t made it, Rex was going to fall apart. The 501st was going to fall apart. Skywalker, when he found out, was going to fall apart.

It was up to Jesse right now, as second in command, to keep that from happening. Ahsoka wouldn’t want them to fall apart. She’d want them to keep pushing forward. To keep fighting this war. To win it. To bring peace to the galaxy. Jesse could do that. He could do that for her.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Kix stepped out. He had blood smeared across his armor and looked grim. But not grim in a way that suggested he was going to deliver bad news. Jesse let out a sigh of relief. Even before the medic spoke, he knew Ahsoka was still alive. For the time being, at least.

Kix looked at them, lips pressed into a thin line. “Well, I didn’t know this was how to get you all in the med bay without a fight.”

No one laughed.

He looked down at the data pad. “It’s still touch and go. She lost a lot of blood and without a bacta tank or the proper transfusions, it’s going to take her longer to heal. I recommend we head to Coruscant immediately so she can have access to better facilities.”

Already done. Jesse had ordered them to head back the second everyone was on the ship. Not everyone was on the ship, though. Echo and Fives were still on the planet’s surface, chasing after the sniper. Havoc and Smoke were doing flyovers to help them. He’d tell them to abandon the mission after Kix was done giving his diagnostics. He wanted that sniper caught as much as the rest of them. But he wasn’t about to delay Ahsoka getting potentially life-saving treatment to do so.

“The shot missed her heart by an inch and because she wasn’t wearing any armor, it went completely through.”

Rex stiffened next to him.

“She also has a concussion and damaged her lekku when she fell so she’ll be sensitive to sound when she wakes up. I think she slowed the damage with the Force or something. I know they can do that. Anyways, the shot missed her heart. Missed her spine. We got all the bacta we can spare helping her out. She’s asleep now and her vitals look good. I think she’ll make a full recovery.”

Everyone let out a sigh of relief. That suffocating blanket of despair lessened somewhat. Jesse felt like he could finally breathe again. His legs were shaking and it took all his self-control not to sink to the floor. Rex stayed rigid beside him.

“I want her resting so Corric and I are going to be imposing strict visitation hours when she wakes up. And she is going to stay in this med bay until I clear her to leave.”

The troopers all started to protest.

Kix merely glared at them. “Do not slow her recovery because you’re too selfish to wait a few hours to see her. Besides, with the amount of blood she lost I doubt she’ll manage to stay awake for more than a few minutes at a time anyways.”

The protests all died down.

“Right then, she’ll be asleep for the night and probably most of tomorrow as well. I strongly recommend you all clear out before I start running physicals on all of you.”

Had the situation been any less dire, Jesse would have laughed. For the first time, it actually looked like many of the troopers would prefer to get poked and prodded at by an overly-zealous medic so they could stay in the med bay a few minutes longer. Still, they took the hint and filed out.

“Captain!” Kix called, no doubt seeing Rex’s wounded arm.

Jesse shook his head. “Let me calm him down first, okay?”

“He got shot in the arm,” Kix growled.

“I know, I know. I’m not saying he shouldn’t get that looked at, but come on, Kix, you see him. He’s in shock. Let me just help him come back to the present. I promise you, I’ll let you or Corric look at him in a bit. Okay? He’s not going to die. It’s just a graze.”

Kix clicked his tongue and relented. “Alright. But if I don’t hear from you in an hour, I will find you, and I will tranq you.”

Jesse let out a hollow laugh. “Fair enough.”

Kix patted him on the shoulder before walking back to Ahsoka to run a few more scans. Jesse turned to see Rex standing in the same spot, not moving. Rigid. He looked like a statue.

“Captain,” he said.

Rex jumped and turned to him. “Yes? What is it?”

“Come on, let’s get out of here.” He jerked his head to the door.

Rex didn’t move, turning back to stare at Ahsoka. “I can’t. She needs me.”

“She’s got Kix and Corric looking after her,” Jesse said softly. “Besides, we won’t be long and then you can come back.”

Maybe it was a good thing he got shot. That way he had an excuse to stay in the med bay.

Before Rex could argue with him, Dogma walked in. “Echo and Fives are back,” he said.

That seemed to spur Rex into some action. He nodded and motioned for Jesse to follow him. Not exactly what he was hoping for. But hopefully getting out of the med bay and walking around would help clear his head.

“Smoke and Havoc are back too?” Jesse asked Dogma.

“They’re the ones that gave Echo and Fives a ride.”

“Good.” He messaged the bridge to let them know to head for Coruscant immediately. Shit, had anyone told General Skywalker what had happened? Or the Jedi Council? Or the chancellor? He should probably go do that.

But first, he needed to hear Echo and Fives’ report. Then he needed to figure out if the captain was dissociating. Then he needed to get the captain back down to the med bay to get his arm checked out. Then he could send a report to… to someone. He’d probably start with Skywalker and go from there. Fuck, Skywalker was not going to be happy.

They made their way down to the bay as Echo and Fives stepped off the scouting ship Havoc and Smoke used.

“Sit rep,” Rex asked, his body still rigid. He seemed to operate better when there were things to do and orders to give at the very least.

Echo pulled off his helmet, looking very grim. “It wasn’t a clanker, sir.” He pulled out a holoprojector and up popped an image of Cad Bane recorded from his body cam. Clear as day.

Jesse choked back a gasp. He had been under the impression that a commando droid was responsible for Ahsoka’s shooting. To know it was a bounty hunter…

“Also, he used a B1 blaster for some reason,” Echo said, holding out the offending weapon.

Jesse took it and examined it. It had been modified for a longer range but otherwise remained unchanged from what the B1s normally used.

“It was almost like he wanted it to look like an accident. Or he wasn’t there,” Echo finished.

Fives finally spoke. “Someone hired him to kill her.” He also had his helmet off, tucked under his arm in a vice grip so tight Jesse swore he could see spiderweb cracks appear where Fives gripped it.

Oh shit. Things were about to get ugly.

“Did you get him?” Rex asked. He and Fives were staring intently at one another.

The blanket of despair had completely disappeared and now all Jesse could feel was tension. Thick enough to cut with a knife. Hot enough to boil his blood. His heart rate increased ever so slightly. He took a step back as if to get out of the line of fire.

“No,” Fives growled. “We chased him halfway across the planet before he got on his ship and took off.”

“Why didn’t you get him?” Rex asked.

“Rex,” Jesse swallowed down his desire to stay out of the situation and put a hand on Rex’s arm. A pathetic attempt at de-escalation.

“Because we fucking didn’t!” Fives shouted, chucking his helmet across the room where it smashed into the wall. He threw it with such force, Jesse wouldn’t be surprised if it was cracked or the wall was dented.

“Fives,” Echo said, grabbing onto his brother and trying to physically pull him away from Rex.

It didn’t work. Fives shoved Echo off him and Rex somehow managed to slip from Jesse’s grasp.

“You want to repeat that?” he asked.

“We fucking didn’t get him, sir because it was a setup from the beginning! I told you there was something wrong! I told you something was off about the mission. But did you fucking listen? No! No, you fucking didn’t because you think you know best and you follow orders without questions—”

“Watch yourself, trooper,” Rex growled.

Alright, de-escalation tactics were failing rapidly and the shouting was attracting a lot of attention.

“Watch myself? You want me to watch myself? How about you watch yourself because you’ve got your head so far up your own ass you almost got Ahsoka killed! She could still die and all because you decided the mission was more important than her life!”

Rex’s fist tightened and he wound his arm back. Fives actually looked like he wanted Rex to punch him. His eyes seemed to be urging him to do it. But Jesse was not going to let that happen. He wasn’t great at de-escalation, as evidenced by what was currently happening in front of him, but he did know that letting Rex and Fives get into a fistfight was not going to help the situation.

He shoved himself between the two of them, a hand on each of their chests as he forced them to step away from each other.

“Knock it off, both of you,” he said in his best ‘I’m a commanding officer do what I say’ voice. Even though he technically was not a higher rank than Rex. Whatever, it didn’t matter now. What mattered now was stopping this before he had to explain to Skywalker why Fives was dead.

He turned to Echo. “Get him out of here. Now.”

Echo nodded and grabbed Fives’ arm, dragging him away from Rex. Fives didn’t say anything. He just glared daggers at Rex.

Jesse turned back to the captain. “Go, start filling out the incident report. I’ll deal with Fives.”

Rex’s fist tightened and for a moment, Jesse was afraid he’d say no and then go after Fives. He didn’t. He nodded, turned on his heels, and stalked out of the room. His aura screamed ‘danger’, causing many troopers to leap out of his way. A few even turned around and headed in the opposite direction to avoid his warpath.

Jesse groaned and ran a hand down his face. He wondered if he should message Kix to let him know that Rex’s med bay visit might be delayed a bit. Then again, the man did say he had an hour before he was hunting them down.

Jesse glanced between the hallway Rex had gone down and the hallway Fives and Echo had gone down, trying to decide which one to deal with first.

He winced as he heard Echo’s shouts echoing (ha, had this been any other situation he would have found it funny) throughout the ship. Fives was shouting back, equally as angry.

Alright, the captain might be in the midst of a mental breakdown but at least he wasn’t disturbing the peace. It looked like Fives was going to be his first victim.

He took a few deep breaths to steady himself and make a plan. As much as he wanted to react in anger, and it certainly would be easier to, that wouldn’t help anyone. They were all hurting from this. They were all lashing out in their own ways. He could not be the one that added to that hurt.

Once he felt like he wouldn’t immediately deck Fives in the face for his actions, he followed their shouts. Thankfully, it seemed like no trooper wanted to be caught in the middle of whatever the hell was going on here and made themselves scarce. It was only Echo and Fives in that hallway. Echo waved his hands wildly, face red as he berated his brother. Fives shook his head and answered equally as aggressively.

“What were you thinking, talking to the captain like that?” Echo said.

“If he had just listened to me, none of this would have ever happened! I told him! I told him something was off but he didn’t listen!”

“It’s not his fault that Ahsoka got shot. The only person to blame is Bane and whoever hired him.”

“And the captain because he’s the one that sent her down there!”

“The council was the one that sent her down there!”

“Fuck off, Echo, you know I’m right!”

Jesse came to a stop in front of them. “Fives, Echo, stand down,” he said, keeping his voice sharp and to the point. It wasn’t technically a shout, but it was loud enough to get their attention.

The two of them jumped at his sudden appearance and turned toward him. Echo did stand down, snapping into a salute upon realizing Jesse was not messing around.

Fives still had a lot of fight left in him. “Don’t sit there and act like I’m wrong,” he snarled.

“I said stand down, corporal,” Jesse snapped again.

The use of his rank worked like a charm. Fives looked as though he had been slapped. He physically recoiled from Jesse and his mouth snapped shut.

“You are going to sit there, be quiet, and listen to me.”

“But—”

“I said be quiet.” He growled.

Once more, Fives looked like he had been slapped.

Jesse continued on before he could recover and started arguing once more. “You are not going to speak unless I say you can speak. You are not going to argue with me. And you are not going to leave this conversation until I dismiss you. Is that clear?”

Fives didn’t answer.

“Is that clear, corporal?”

He flinched and nodded. “Yes, sir. That’s clear.”

“Good. Now you are going to listen to me and you are going to listen good. You seem to be under the impression that you have any right to question orders. Let me shatter that illusion for you right now. You do not have the authority or the freedom to question anything. Commander Fox may be on the Senate floor fighting for us to be recognized as citizens of the Republic but do not mistake his position for freedom. You are not a person. You are a clone. You are property of the Galactic Republic and Kamino. Your only purpose is to shoot at whoever your commanding officer tells you to shoot at. Your purpose is not to question. Your purpose is not to argue. Your purpose is not to give your input on missions. Your purpose is to go out there and fight until something kills you. And if you do not do that, if you argue, if you make life hard for your commanding officer, you will be decommissioned in a heartbeat and replaced with a trooper who is better behaved. You are a slave. You do not have the luxury of being difficult to work with.”

Fives looked down at his feet and said nothing.

It hurt to say it out loud. It hurt to admit that no matter how many strides forward they had made, it still wasn’t enough. But it was reality. It was a harsh reality that the troopers sometimes forgot because the Jedi were kind and treated them like individuals. And this bred a sense of complacency. Something that could cause trouble if they served under the wrong commanding officer.

“We are very lucky that General Skywalker and Ahsoka treat us like we are actual people,” Jesse continued. “We are very lucky they listen to our input and let us voice our concerns over plans. But do not for one-second mistake their kindness for freedom. We had orders from the Supreme Chancellor himself. We were going to go to that planet and clear out the remaining Separatist forces no matter what.”

“But I was right!” Fives blurted out.

Jesse’s eyes narrowed. “What did I say about interrupting me, corporal?”

He immediately snapped his mouth shut and went back to staring at his feet.

“You were right. It was an ambush. It was a plan to lure Ahsoka out so she could be assassinated. What do you want the Captain to do about that? What do you think he could do about that? You had no proof. You had no evidence. All you had was a ‘feeling’. That means nothing. Dooku himself could have sent you a Force vision with a play-by-play of exactly what was going to happen. But without evidence, hard, concrete proof that something was wrong, your words mean nothing. And neither you nor the captain has the authority to question orders. Especially not from the chancellor. And, if either of you had, you could have been court-martialed and executed.”

Jesse could have gone on. He could have ranted and raved for an entire hour about how much their lot in life sucked and how dehumanized they actually were. But, at a certain point, it wouldn’t be about Fives. It would be about him. Him and his feelings towards the GAR and the Republic and how they were treated.

He didn’t need to make Fives feel any worse. Looking at him, sufficiently cowed into submission and unlikely to cause any more problems, the situation was dealt with for now. There was probably more he needed to say. There was more he and Fives needed to talk about, that they all needed to talk about. But he was tired, covered in dust, and needed to make sure Rex was still mentally sound. So, he decided to wrap their conversation up.

“Look,” he said, softer than before, “you have every right to be angry at the system that puts you in these situations. You have every right to be mad that you were correct but had no way to act upon it. You have every right to want to voice your opinions and input, especially when it comes to the safety of others. But you do not have the right to take those feelings out on the captain. He may be your commanding officer, but he’s not more powerful than you. He does not have the authority to disobey orders. Be angry at the system, but taking it out on the captain helps no one. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Fives said softly.

Jesse straightened up and nodded. “Good. Now, tensions are running high because of Ahsoka’s injury. I am not going to let you increase those tensions any further. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Here is what is going to happen. You are going to cool off. I don’t care how you do it. Run around the ship for five hours. Take a cold shower. Scrub the bridge from top to bottom with a toothbrush. Whatever it takes, you are going to get yourself under control or so help me I will have you court-martialed and thrown into the brig. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You are also going to apologize to the Captain for blaming him for something he had no control over. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Alright, then. We are done here. Dismissed.”

Echo saluted him. Fives didn’t. Jesse didn’t care.

He watched as Echo grabbed his brother’s arm and once more dragged him down the hallway. He stood in place for a few minutes, waiting to see if the shouting would start up again. It didn’t. Or if it did it was out of his earshot.

Hearing nothing, he knew it was now time to deal with his next problem: Rex.

Rex, who was already feeling guilty because Ahsoka got shot.

Rex who held her in his arms for ten minutes, watching her bleed out and not being able to stop it.

Rex who probably was thinking the exact things Fives had said to him in the bay.

This whole thing was a mess.

And now they had a bounty hunter to deal with. And not just any bounty hunter, Cad Bane. One of the best in the business.

He didn’t show up for fun. He showed up because someone paid him. This whole thing wreaked of a setup. From the droid ambush to the fact that he had used a B1’s weapon. Someone had set this all up.

The logical explanation was Dooku or another Separatist. After all, Ahsoka’s video series had been steadily shifting the tides of war and people were starting to fight back against separatist occupations because of it.

The simplest explanation was often the correct one.

But that didn’t explain why they were isolated. Why there were no other Jedi in the area? Why Cody couldn’t come on the mission with them? That all stank of something bigger going on here.

He looked at the cameras lining the hallways. Always monitoring. Always recording. He’d have to figure out a way to talk about the potential conspiracy without getting recorded later. Right now, Rex was his priority.

*****

As Rex made his way to his office, the adrenaline that had kept him standing slowly started to fade. The numbness of his mind ebbed away and left him grappling with the horror of what had happened. What had almost happened?

By the time he got to his office, he was practically stumbling, tripping over his feet like he were drunk, and using the wall to support him. His breaths came out in short gasps. His armor felt too tight. His body felt too hot. His head felt like it was going to explode.

Jesse told him to do something. Right?

What did he tell him to do?

He swam through his muddled mind, trying to remember the conversation he had just had. The only thing he could remember was Fives yelling at him, saying it was all his fault. Telling him that he was the reason Ahsoka almost died.

He opened the door to his office, crashing to his hands and knees and gasping for air. One of his arms screamed in pain. He couldn’t tell which one. His entire body felt like ants were crawling below the surface of his skin. Biting at him. Trying desperately to get out.

Jesse told him to do something.

What was it?

What did he need to do?

Incident report.

That’s what he needed to do. He needed to write an incident report and submit it to General Skywalker so he knew what had happened.

Shit.

Skywalker.

He was not going to be happy when he heard about what happened to Ahsoka. He’d be furious. More furious than Fives. Who knew how he’d lash out when he heard?

Rex swallowed and managed to pull himself into his chair. His hands shook as he grabbed a datapad and started filling out the form.

Name: Ahsoka Tano

Rank: Padawan Commander

Age:

Fourteen.

She was fourteen.

Barely a teenager.

Still a child.

His hand shook so badly and the words starts to blur together until he couldn’t make heads or tails of the report he was filling out.

He needed to get the armor off. That was why he couldn’t breathe. It was too tight. He still had his helmet on. That was always hard to breathe with.

Get it off.

He had to get it off.

He pulled the helmet off and set it down on the desk.

The helmet was wrong.

There was something off about it.

His eyes traced the blue and white and… there! That stain. Red. Right on his chin. In the shape of a small hand.

Blood. There was blood on his helmet.

Rex inhaled sharply and jolted back from the desk, knocking his chair over as the helmet continued to mock him with Ahsoka’s blood.

He looked down at his hands and realized they were also stained with blood. It wasn’t shiny and wet. It was dry and hardened, flaking off in parts. He traced its path with his eyes. It seemed like it was all over his armor. His hands. His forearms. His biceps. And then on his chest. The largest stain of them all.

That had been where he had held Ahsoka as she bled out in his arms.

His hands shook harder. Fives’ accusation echoed in his mind, so loudly it sounded like the man was screaming in his ear.

He couldn’t fill out the paperwork. Not like this.

He reached down and unlocked a drawer in his desk, pulling out a full bottle of liquor. He had confiscated it from some shinies a few months back.

Usually, he looked the other way when it came to alcohol. So long as it wasn’t becoming a problem or an addiction, he was willing to let the boys have their fun. But this stuff was almost pure alcohol. If the shinies (who were so fresh off Kamino, they hadn’t even seen dirt yet) had taken so much as a single sip of the stuff, they’d get alcohol poisoning and die.

So, Rex confiscated it and suggested they started with something a little weaker. That being Jesse’s stash of dark ale he kept hidden about the ship. Rex had planned to crack it open when Cody was here. But Krell kind of put a halt to that. He didn’t want to risk getting drunk with that man on the ship and Cody seemed pretty shaken by his presence as well.

But now he had a reason to drink. Just a few sips. A little something to take the edge off.

He cracked open the bottle and poured a shot into a glass. He couldn’t remember the last time he had cleaned the glass. He decided not to think about it. The alcohol would kill any bacteria anyways. He downed it in one go.

The burn hit the back of his throat and almost immediately he could feel his mind loosen.

He looked down at his hands. They were still shaking. Fives was still screaming in his ear.

Not enough.

He needed more.

Just one more.

One more would make it all go away.

He downed another shot.

Better.

It’s all your fault. She almost died because of you.

Still not enough.

Another.

All your fault.

Another.

She almost died.

Another.

All your fault

Another.

Hey! He needed to let Cody know Ahsoka was injured. She was his vod’ika too. He loved her just as much as he loved Rex. He deserved to know.

He put the bottle down, sending something crashing to the floor.

Shit. Was that the alcohol?

No. Wait, he was still holding onto that. What crashed?

The room blurred together. It was dark. Hard to see. Blurry.

Glass?

The glass crashed?

Eh, that was fine. He didn’t need a glass to keep drinking. He could do it straight from the bottle.

He put the bottle to his lips and took several deep gulps. Satisfied, he put the bottle on the table, holding onto it for several seconds to make sure it was secure and then letting go.

It didn’t crash.

Score one for Rex.

He typed a message to Cody. Very important to let him know Ahsoka was okay. Very important.

Jesse asked him to do something.

Something about a report?

He needed to fill out a report.

Should probably get started on that.

He took another gulp from the bottle.

Cody messaged back.

Rex tried to read what he had typed but couldn’t quite make it out. That was fine. He could still message him. His hand didn’t feel like it was attached to his body. His fingers felt like they were both too small and too big. Weird.

Another successful message to Cody sent. He turned back to the bottle and reached for it.

The chair tipped with him and Rex found himself falling to the ground.

He probably should catch himself.

Too late.

He hit the ground.

He groaned and pushed himself back up to his hands and knees. Everything spun around and he fell backward.

Fuck. He felt like he was going to be sick.

There was another ping somewhere in the room. It took him a second to realize it was an incoming message.

Who was messaging him?

Oh. Right.

“Cody,” he mumbled, rolling to his hands and knees and pulling himself back up into the chair. He went to grab the bottle so he could have another drink.

He overshot it and knocked the bottle to the ground.

The sound of shattering glass filled the room and he watched dumbly as the liquid splattered all over the floor.

He blinked several times.

“Shit. Gotta pick that up.”

Someone messaged him.

Jesse?

Jesse wanted him to do something.

No, wait, Cody. Cody messaged him.

Cody messaged him because Rex wanted him to know that Ahsoka was okay.

He should respond.

He picked up the datapad to let his brother know he’d be right back and then put it back on the desk.

Tried to at least.

It fell off and clattered to the ground.

Right into the glass.

Shattered broken glass.

He needed to pick that up.

Couldn’t have broken glass.

Ahsoka could get hurt.

Something wet dripped down his face, gathering at his chin before falling.

And it happened again.

And again.

And again.

His hands shook as he tried to pick up the broken bits of glass. The gloves were too thick. He couldn’t feel anything with them. He pulled them off with his teeth.

He had to pick up the broken glass.

He couldn’t let Ahsoka get hurt.

Ahoska did get hurt.

She almost died.

And it was all his fault.

*****

As much as Jesse had been dreading dealing with Fives, he was dreading dealing with Rex even more. Anger was something that Jesse understood. He felt like he could react to it. He felt like he knew what to do with it.

Despair on the other hand?

That was not his wheelhouse. He had his fair share of depressive moments. One did not fight in a war surrounded by death without having a breakdown here or there. But when other people were sad, Jesse found himself struggling with what to do and say.

‘Oh, you lost a brother? Sorry about that!’

Yeah, no. It always seemed like no matter what he did or said, it was hollow. Fake, even.

And normally he wouldn’t even be worried about the Captain. Death and injuries were always going to be rough on a person no matter what, but Rex always seemed to compartmentalize well enough.

They were in a war.

Injuries happened.

As far as Ahsoka was concerned, she would be fine. They were lucky this battle. Rex should be able to handle it.

Only, Jesse wasn’t so sure that he could.

There was a difference between a brother dying and Ahsoka dying.

All troopers were painfully aware of their own mortality. Every day they were surrounded by dead bodies that looked exactly like them. That sounded like them. That had the same upbringing as them. They knew, in the back of their minds, that if they died, they’d be replaced in a heartbeat. And, if enough of their brothers died, eventually they’d be completely forgotten to time.

There were whole squadrons of men that Jesse would never know about because everyone who did know them was dead.

But Ahsoka was different.

Ahsoka was a Jedi.

There was a finite supply of them.

You couldn’t just make another Jedi.

And she seemed so invincible. She didn’t wear any armor or carry a blaster. All she had was one lightsaber that twirled as she flipped and sliced effortlessly through droids as if they were merely annoying flies she was swatting.

She laughed during battles.

She joked with Skywalker.

She excelled at combat.

She was always out there in front because troopers weren’t invincible. She was.

Jesse should have known better.

He had been there during the blue shadow virus.

He had seen her steadily grow weaker until she collapsed in Rex’s arms and didn’t wake back up.

He had seen her skin turn gray and her movements grow sluggish.

He had seen her mind and reflexes dull the longer they were down there.

He had seen how mortal she was.

But he had forgotten.

For as complacent as Fives had gotten with voicing his opinions, Jesse was just as bad. He had forgotten that Jedi were just like them. Mortal. Weak. Easily killed.

And now they had all been punched in the face with reality.

They had overestimated Ahsoka’s abilities. Her safety in battle. And now they were all paying the price.

His commlink beeped. He groaned and saw it was Kix.

“I thought you said I had an hour.”

“I did, but I wanted to make sure you didn’t forget,” Kix said.

“I know. I’m sorry. Fives and Rex got into it. I dealt with Fives first. I’m getting the captain now.”

“Hmph. And this is why you don’t leave the med bay unless I say you can.”

“You wanted Rex and Fives to get into a fistfight in the med bay?” Jesse asked.

“They got into a fight?” Kix cried.

He winced and rubbed the back of his neck. “Almost. I stopped them before Rex could sucker-punch him. It was more of a verbal fight.”

Kix cursed. “Fine. But get the captain down here. I need to look at his arm. No more stalling, Jesse.”

“I know. I know. Is Ahsoka still doing okay?”

“Yes. Because I’m a miracle worker. Now go. Before I start hunting.”

“Alright. I’ll see you in a bit,” he said.

He got to Rex’s office and knocked on the door. “Captain, are you in there?”

He heard a muffled reply come through the door.

“Was that a ‘come on in’? It’s Jesse, by the way.”

This time, there was no reply.

He knocked on the door again. “Captain? Are you okay?”

No answer.

“Rex?”

No answer.

“Shit.” He reached to punch in the code and hesitated. He may be acting as the commanding officer at the moment, but he wasn’t technically in charge so long as Rex was still fit for duty. Walking into the officers’ office without express permission was not allowed since they could be working on classified information.

He knocked once more. “Captain? If you don’t tell me to stay out here, I’m going to take that as permission to enter.”

Once more, there was no answer.

“I’m coming in.” He punched in the code to the door and stepped into the dark room.

His first thought was ‘It smells like a bar in here’. His second thought was ‘Oh shit, the captain tried to kill himself’. Because Rex was huddled on the ground, blood covering his hands. Fresh blood. Which meant it wasn’t Ahsoka’s. Shattered glass surrounded him and there was a puddle of what Jesse assumed was alcohol.

“Captain!” He rushed to his side, ready to call Kix in a panic to let him know the captain had slit his wrists.

His eyes adjusted to the darkness and he realized that wasn’t the case, thankfully. Instead, the blood was coming from his hands as he struggled to pick up the glass. Every once in a while, he’d grab a piece, only to drop it back to the ground. He was shaking and tear tracks streaked down his dusty cheeks. Right, he had had his helmet off when he was with Ahsoka. He looked like hell.

“Captain,” Jesse said, grabbing onto Rex’s hands to try and get him to stop before he hurt himself anymore.

Rex didn’t even seem to realize he was in the room with him.

“Rex, stop,” he said, tugging him away as gently as he could. Rex was like a boulder though and refused to move.

“It’s all my fault,” he mumbled. “She’s hurt because of me.”

His eyes were glassy and red and the smell of his breath told Jesse that he had drank at least some of the contents of the bottle.

“Shit, Rex, how much of this did you drink?”

Rex picked up a large piece of glass, held together by the label. It was smeared with his blood and his hands shook as he put it on the table.

Jesse recognized the label. Usually, a shot or two of this stuff would knock you on your ass. You had to be very careful when drinking it because it was very easy to get alcohol poisoning. The last thing they needed was for Rex’s liver to fail and then he’d die.

“My fault. My fault. It’s all my fault,” Rex said. He tried to pick up another glass piece. It pierced the pads of his fingers. More beads of bright red blood leaked through.

“Okay. Come on, captain, let’s get you out of here,” Jesse said. This time, he used more force to drag Rex away from the puddle of alcohol and glass.

A bit too much force, though, as Rex toppled into him. The weight of his body knocked Jesse over and they landed on the ground in a tangled heap.

Rex didn’t even seem to notice and just lay there.

Kix wanted him to go to the med bay but that was so far away. Jesse wasn’t sure he could get Rex there like this. He supposed he could call Kix and Corric to bring a stretcher or something, but he also didn’t like the idea of leaving Rex out in public like that. The med bay wasn’t exactly built for privacy. And he reeked of alcohol. It probably wouldn’t be good for the others healing to smell this.

“Alright, plan B. We’re going to your quarters, sir,” he said. He fumbled with his commlink.

He was about to call Fives and tell him to clear the hallways before thinking better of it. Fives still needed to come to terms with everything that had happened. And he doubted seeing Rex like this would help the situation. It’d either make Fives mad or make him feel guilty. Either way, he didn’t need to deal with that right now.

“Hardcase,” he said.

“Yeah?”

“I need you to clear the hallways between the captain’s office and bunk.”

“Is everything okay?”

Jesse winced and pulled himself out from underneath Rex so his head was in his lap. At least he was no longer stabbing himself repeatedly with glass.

“I don’t think any of us are okay right now. But Rex is drunk and I don’t want the rest of the troops seeing him like this. Especially since most of them are still worried about Ahsoka and after they heard the fight with Fives… things are just tense right now. This isn’t going to help.”

“Yeah, shit. Okay. I’ll do that. Give me a minute.”

“Thanks.”

Next up were the medics.

“So, Kix, change of plans,” he said.

“Jesse, get Rex to the med bay now. I don’t care how sad he is. He needs that arm to be looked at.”

Jesse winced. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. He is super drunk. Like, to the point where I’m kind of worried his liver is going to fail.”

Kix was silent on the other end.

“Look, he’s a mess right now. I don’t want him in the med bay. Hardcase and I are taking him back to his bunk. Can you send Corric there to take a look at him? I swear, Kix, I’m not trying to be difficult. But—”

“I got it,” Kix responded. “Fine. Yeah. Corric’s on his way. Is he still conscious?”

“Yes.”

“Good. If he passes out put him in the recovery position, okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah. I got it. Thanks, Kix.”

“Corric will be down in a bit.”

Jesse sighed. Man, if this is what happened when he was in charge, then he should never be put in charge of anything ever again. He reached up and grabbed Rex’s datapad and tucked it into his pocket.

“All clear, Jesse,” Hardcase said.

“Thanks.” Jesse shifted once more so he had a better hold of Rex’s torso. “Alright, let’s get you cleaned up,” he said.

He somehow managed to loop Rex’s arm over his neck and get him to his feet. Rex’s head hung low and he walked as though he didn’t have bones.

“You better not puke on me,” he grumbled. He somehow managed to get them out the door and into the hallway.

Rex seemed to be trying his best to walk with him, but his steps were sloppily delayed. Eventually, his legs seemed to give out completely and he just leaned all his weight into Jesse.

“Fuck, you’re heavy,” Jesse cursed, adjusting his grip around Rex’s waist and all but dragged him across the floor.

The blood from his hands continued to drip, leaving a stain on Jesse’s armor and a trail behind them. He’d have to get a maintenance droid to come to clean it up later.

“Please, please don’t tell me you submitted the incident report like this,” he said.

Rex didn’t answer. He just continued to mutter about how this was all his fault. It was on the tip of Jesse’s tongue to assure him it wasn’t. But the man was so far gone he doubted he would remember it.

Finally, they got to Rex’s barely used bunk. He liked staying with the men. A comfort to know who was alive. But having more private quarters had its upsides. Mainly, a fresher just for commanding officers. And, considering their general was halfway across the galaxy and their commander was currently in a coma, that meant it was practically a private en suite bathroom!

Which was perfect because Rex made a retching sound that had Jesse moving faster. He all but dumped Rex unceremoniously in front of the toilet. Just in time too as he gripped the sides of the bowls and puked.

Jesse wrinkled his nose. He didn’t exactly have a leg to stand on when it came to alcohol consumption and had had more than his fair share of black-out puke fests, but it was kind of gross to be on the other side of it.

“There you go. Just get it all out.” He figured he should probably take off Rex’s armor so Corric could have a better look at him.

He fumbled with the straps while Rex continued to retch and gag.

“At least your aim’s as good here as it is on the battlefield,” he muttered, finally pulling off the chest piece and back piece before starting to work on the arm pieces.

Rex’s shirt was soaked with sweat and he wouldn’t stop shaking.

Finally, he let out a pained groan and slumped onto the floor, leaning heavily against the wall.

“Done or not?”

Rex let out another pained groan but didn’t specify what that meant. He was pale and sweating profusely. After a few minutes, he didn’t puke again and so Jesse figured it was probably safe to move him to the bunk and get him in the recovery position until Corric got here.

Once more, the captain was a tangled pile of gangly limbs that seemed to lack bones and want to go in every direction at once. It took a lot of maneuvering and more than one accidental drop to the floor as well as a lot of panting that made Jesse question how in shape he really was. But he did manage to get Rex on the bunk and in the recovery position so he wouldn’t drown in his own vomit.

Jesse collapsed back against the bed, sweating and panting. “I got to work out more.”

There was a knock at the door. “It’s Corric. Are you in there?”

Jesse ran a hand over his head, scrubbed it down his face, and sighed. “Yeah. I’m in here. Give me a sec.”

He pushed himself off the floor and went to open the door.

Corric stepped in, took one look at Rex, and clicked his tongue. “I swear, we need need to put you all in bubble wrap.” He stepped over to the bunk and scanned him.

“Not all of us. Just the captain. Kaysh mirsh solus”

“Keep on believing that. But you all are.” Corric put the scanner away and injected Rex with something before tearing off the sleeve of his blacks and dealing with the blaster wound on his arm. “Liver’s fine. Don’t know how. He’s got a BAC of nearly 0.20. I’ll get some bacta on his blaster wound and his hands and leave you with a hangover cure to give him when he wakes up tomorrow.”

“I thought you didn’t like giving those to us,” Jesse said. He had begged Kix for one more than once only to be shut down every time.

“We don’t because we firmly believe that you need to suffer the consequences of your poor decision-making skills. However, Ahsoka’s going to want Rex when she wakes up so he needs to be as lucid as possible. Can you stay with him for the night? Just in case? I’ve minimized the damage as much as possible but he could still hurt himself.”

Jesse nodded. “Yeah, I can do that. I have to call Skywalker though. And also make sure Rex didn’t submit his incident report like this.”

A thought came to him. “Can you fake a more serious injury for him?”

“What?” Corric turned to him. “Why? He already got shot in the arm. What more do you need?”

“Skywalker is going to be pissed when we tell him what happened. Also, we’re booking it to Coruscant to get Ahsoka better medical care so we need to tell the Jedi what happened as soon as possible. Rex is in no condition to talk to Skywalker like this and he’s going to be out for the rest of the night. But if he’s not there, Skywalker is going to ask questions and a graze to the arm isn’t enough to put him out of commission. So we need something that will. Something bad enough that he can’t talk tonight, but not so bad that it looks suspicious when he’s up and about tomorrow.”

Corric thought for a moment. “I’ll say he got thrown against a building and has a concussion. We would use more bacta on him but given Ahsoka’s wounds and some of the other casualties, and how far from other battalions we are out here, we don’t want to use too much. So he gets the short end of the stick and heals the old-fashioned way. With bed rest and pain pills.”

Jesse shrugged. “Sure. Sounds good.” He had no idea if it sounded good or not. But, he trusted that Corric’s excuse was a valid one.

“Right, then I’ll head back down to the med bay and forge some paperwork. I’ll get Kix on board too. Let me know when you call Skywalker so I can send someone else to be with the Captain.”

“Don’t bother. Hardcase already knows about this. I’ll have him here.”

Corric nodded. “Then I’ll leave you to it. Call me if anything changes, okay?”

“Will do.”

He walked Corric to the door and stood there for a moment, gathering himself and resting his head on the cool metal. It was nice to finally have a chance to breathe. It felt like he was the only one holding the ship together. He was really fucking tired of it.

But, he also didn’t have the luxury of staying still for very long. He had several jobs to be doing. First and foremost, to make sure Rex didn’t fuck up the incident report and submit drunken ramblings to the GAR that would definitely require an internal investigation of his conduct.

He opened Rex’s datapad and pulled up the incident form, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that only Ahsoka’s name and rank had been filled out.

“Thank the Force, at least one thing is going right today,” he muttered.

He celebrated too soon.

Just as he was about to start filling it out for real this time, a message from Commander Cody popped up.

CommanderCody: Why isn’t Ahsoka answering?

He let out a whine. “Please, please don’t tell me you did what I think you did.”

He pulled up the chatlog and blanched when he saw the messages.

CaptainRex: Heyyyyyyyya;sdkf vofdd sokas gonna bee ok

CommanderCody: Um, Rex? You okay there?

CaptainRex: SUiper ok syper duper oky

CommanderCody: Seriously? You don’t sound okay. What’s going on?

CaptainRex: shiti thing i vrok the glasses

CaptainRex: 1 sex

CommanderCody: Rex? What’s going on?

CommanderCody: Seriously, you’re starting to freak me out.

CommanderCody: I know you’re not currently on the Senate floor like Fox was.

CommanderCody: This isn’t funny. What’s wrong?

CommanderCody: Rex?

CommanderCody: Why isn’t Ahsoka answering?

“No, Rex, of course. Drunk text your commanding officer. That’s a great idea! Best idea you’ve ever had. It’s not like the last time someone left Cody on Read he organized an entire task force that nearly had to tear Coruscant apart to find Fox.”

Honestly, at this point, Jesse’s only purpose in life was to be disaster control.

He winced and messaged Cody.

CaptainRex: Hey, commander. This is Jesse.

CommanderCody: Jesse? Why the hell do you have access to Rex’s chatlog? And why isn’t he or Ahsoka answering?

CommanderCody: What’s going on?

CaptainRex: So we were ambushed and then Ahsoka kind of got shot by Cad Bane and he got away and then Fives got mad at Rex and then Rex got very drunk and now everyone’s kind of freaking out except for me except I kind of am but I can’t at the moment because I feel like I’m the only one on the ship not freaking out except for maybe Kix and Corric but they’re too busy trying to keep Ahsoka alive because we are really low on medical supplies and we don’t have any togruta blood transfusion stuff and we’re heading back to Coruscant now to get some.

CommanderCody: Deep breaths, Jesse. You’re doing fine. You’re acting exactly as you should. Can I call you now?

CaptainRex: I have to call Skywalker. And submit the incident report. And also call a maintenance droid to clean up all the blood.

CommanderCody: All of that can wait a few more minutes. Let me call you so we can talk. Okay?

CaptainRex: Okay. Yeah. I’m alone. Well, not alone. Rex is with me. He’s passed out though so I’m kind of alone. But yeah, we can talk now.

Jesse should have felt embarrassed by the way he had practically fallen apart the second he got Commander Cody to answer, but he didn’t care. It felt nice to finally have someone else take charge of this mess. Someone who could give him orders and tell him what to do instead of having him make all the decisions.

A few seconds later, the call came through. He picked up immediately.

“Commander,” he said, knowing the relief was seeping into his voice with that one word.

Cody nodded to him. “Jesse, Me’vaar ti gar?”

The use of Mando’a calmed him even more. There was something about hearing the words that made him feel more in control of the situation.

He repeated all the known information they had, relieved that he was given the chance to talk through this with Cody first instead of going straight to Skywalker. It gave him a chance to process things. To calm down. To take a step back and just breathe.

Cody listened intently. He only occasionally interrupted to ask for clarifications but did not get annoyed or frustrated when he didn’t have all the answers.

“And Fives and Echo are sure it was Cad Bane on the roof?”

Jesse nodded. “Echo’s body cam picked it up and the Corrie database confirmed his identity. They also confirmed the ship he used, which he’s been linked to in the past.”

“And we have the B1 blaster?”

“Yes, sir. It’s modified to shoot over longer distances, but it is the same model of blaster.”

Cody hummed. “Cad Bane doesn’t go after people unprompted. Someone hired him. And the use of the B1 blaster suggests they wanted it to look like a random battle casualty and not a hit.”

“Exactly,” Jesse said. He was desperate to lay out more of the evidence he felt pointed to someone in the Republic but knew that would be suicide right now. You never knew who was watching. But as soon as they discovered that Ahsoka hadn’t died, they’d try again.

“Alright, I’ll give General Kenobi a debrief,” Cody said. “Do you think you could do a formal debrief in fifteen?”

Jesse nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“And Fives and Rex are both taken care of for now?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Take care of yourself, Jesse. I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

“No need to thank me, vod” Cody said before shutting off the holoprojector.

Well, that was one thing crossed off his list. He messaged Hardcase to ask if he wouldn’t mind watching the captain for an hour or so, with the explicit order not to take any photos for blackmail.

It was a testament to just how much this had all shaken them when Hardcase didn’t whine or complain, just quietly accepted.

As rough as the day had been, Jesse did feel like the worst was behind them. Fives had stopped making trouble. Rex was now passed out in his bed. Ahsoka was on the mend. And Cody and Kenobi were both aware of the situation. The day was almost over. He could do this. He could keep the 501st from falling apart for just a bit longer.

And, after they made it through the day, then they could pivot. And start to search for the person who wanted their vod’ika dead.

*****

Rex awoke the next morning with the universe’s nastiest headache. It felt like someone was trying to split his skull open with an axe.

He groaned, blinking blearily into the lights that were way too bright before burrowing back in his bed.

“Oh, no you don’t,” a voice called, ripping the pillow off his head and then jamming a needle into the side of his neck.

The results were pretty instant. The headache lessened and he felt like he could open his eyes without being blinded by light. His mind was also less fuzzy.

He turned to see who was in the room with him. “Jesse? What are you doing here? Where is here?” he asked. His mouth felt like sandpaper and tasted just as bad too.

“You’re in your bunk, sir,” Jesse said. “And I am here making sure you don’t drown in your own vomit or roll off the bed and hit your head.”

He also looked as bad as Rex felt. With deep, dark circles under his eyes and his skin pale and ashen.

The events from yesterday came flooding back to Rex. The ambush. Ahsoka getting shot. The fight with Fives. And then… nothing. A whole lot of nothing.

“You got drunk. Very drunk,” Jesse supplied.

Right. He did remember something about a bottle he had confiscated from some shinies.

He winced and sat up, rubbing the back of his head. “I am so sorry, Jesse. That was unprofessional of me and unfair to put you in that position.”

His hands and arm were bandaged, he realized. Just what the hell happened last night?

Jesse held up a hand and shook his head. “No, don’t apologize. We all fall apart sometimes. That’s why you have your brothers.”

“I’m the captain. I can’t fall apart.”

“Rex,” Jesse cut him off. “I’m being serious. You may be the captain, but you are still human. And you went through a lot yesterday. Yeah, it wasn’t great having to deal with you and Fives and Skywalker and also be worried about Ahsoka. But you always carry more than your fair share of the burden. If I can’t help you out, even if it’s just for the day, then I’m not a very good brother. You can lean on me. I promise I won’t break helping you carry your weight.”

He was floored by his words. Floored and deeply humbled. The way Jesse spoke made him feel raw and vulnerable in ways he wasn’t used to.

“Jesse—”

“Quit arguing with me. You know I’ll win. And if I don’t manage to win, then I’ll call Commander Cody and he can deal with you.”

Rex snorted and admitted defeat. “Fine. I yield. How’s Ahsoka doing?”

“Still asleep. We should get to Coruscant in the next few days and then she can get some better treatment. But Kix is a God, I swear. He’s got her stable and he’s certain she’ll make a full recovery.”

“She didn’t… she didn’t—”

“She didn’t wake up, Rex. You’re fine. That’s actually why you’re a lucky bastard who got the hangover cure while the rest of us are forced to suffer. Kix and Corric wanted you as lucid as possible in case she did wake up today.”

“Thank you.” He said. “All of you, thank you. I couldn’t ask for better brothers.”

“And we couldn’t ask for a better captain,” Jesse said, handing him some water to wash the bitter, sour taste from his mouth.

Rex felt like that was a lie. He was, quite possibly, the worst captain in the world. He didn’t listen to his men’s concerns. He got his commander shot and nearly killed. And then he couldn’t even deal with the aftermath properly! Instead opting to get drunk and run away from his problems. He didn’t blame Fives for being pissed off in the slightest.

Speaking of people who were probably pissed off.

“What about Skywalker?”

“He was angry, but not that angry.”

“Really?”

“General Kenobi was there for the debrief so I think he helped keep Skywalker from lashing out somewhat. I even got a thank you for taking charge, keeping most of the men alive, and completing the mission. You have a concussion, by the way. Which is why I gave the debrief and not you.”

“Did I hit my head last night?” Rex asked, bandaged fingers running along his temples to see if a bandage had been applied.

“No. We didn’t want you to get in trouble for drinking on duty so Corric forged some paperwork.”

“Oh. Thank you. And the rest of the bandages? Are those just for show?”

“Nope. You got shot during the battle on the arm and you cut your hands on some glass afterward. Those are both real. Corric says that if he sees you picking at the bandages he’ll shoot you.”

“Oh. Right.” He really did not deserve his men. That much was obvious.

“Quit thinking what I know you’re thinking about,” Jesse growled.

Not for the first time did Rex wonder if the Force had some sort of transitive properties. He swore sometimes it was like his brothers could read his mind.

“It’s true, though. I don’t deserve this. I was drinking on duty. I should get in trouble. You should be mad at me for making you clean up my mess.”

“No, I shouldn’t,” Jesse argued. “I know you think you’re the only one who has to take responsibility for everything, but you don’t. That’s not how this works. We don’t have a lot, but we do have each other. Fuck, Rex, you got to learn to lean on us. You trust us in battle, right?”

“With my life.”

“Then trust us afterward. Please. Lean on us.” Jesse grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “She’s our sister too, okay? We know what you’re going through.”

Rex normally would have argued more, but even with the hang-over cure, he was still nauseous with a nasty headache. He, quite simply, did not have the strength to keep arguing with him.

“Alright. Fine. You win for now.”

“I win forever,” Jesse scoffed.

Rex still had one more update to ask for. This was the one he dreaded the most. He could handle Skywalker’s anger. And Ahsoka being alive and stable helped ease his troubled mind. But Fives… Fives was a whole other issue. Never before had he gotten so angry with him. Never before had he been blamed for something so awful. And Fives was right! The mission was a trap. Ahsoka did get hurt. And Rex didn’t do anything to stop it. Maybe if he had just figured out something else none of this would have ever happened.

Once more, Jesse proved his mind-reading abilities. “Fives doesn’t blame you,” he said softly.

“He literally said it, though.”

“He’s angry at the system. Not you. You were just the best person to take it out on.”

Rex wasn’t convinced.

“Look,” Jesse sighed, “I’m exhausted. I would really like a chance to sleep. Ahsoka’s going to be out for a few more hours. That’s plenty of time for you to shower because you stink, brush your teeth, because your breath stinks, and then go talk to Fives. Trust me, he’s not mad at you. And he’s sorry for lashing out yesterday.”

Regardless of how sorry Fives was or wasn’t was irrelevant. If Rex was going to continue to lead his men, he needed to get him and Fives on the same page again. And that would only be done by talking to one another.

“Very well,” Rex said. “Go, get some sleep. I’ll get cleaned up.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“You’re not going to get drunk again.”

“I don’t think I’m ever drinking again.”

“Doubtful,” Jesse snorted. He seemed to trust his word though and stood up. Before he left, he turned back to Rex. “Remember, you can lean on us. That’s what we’re there for.”

“I know, brother,” Rex said.

He took his time cleaning up, he let the water wash away the dust from the battle run off his body. He brushed his teeth for several minutes, scrubbing his tongue and everything to try and rid his mouth of the taste. He

Went to go put his armor on and froze. Ahsoka’s blood was still streaked and staining it. Bile rose up in his throat and he forced himself to swallow it back down. Later. He’d clean that off later. Right now… he couldn’t. He couldn’t be that close to the reminder of what almost happened. He’d do it later.

He pulled on his bridge greys, the only fresh pair of clothes he had, and readied himself to face Fives.

It didn’t talk long to figure out where he was. He was in his bunk with Echo.

Echo took one look at Rex and winced. There was only so much a shower and a change of clothes could do. Echo, though, was polite enough not to say anything.

“Sir,” he said, moving to stand at attention.

“At ease,” Rex said.

Fives looked up from his data pad. He saw guilt flash in his eyes before he quickly tore his gaze away.

“Actually,” Rex said, “Give us a minute, Echo.”

Echo looked unsure and glanced over at Fives. A silent conversation seemed to pass between them before Fives nodded to him. An assurance that he wasn’t going to try and bait the captain into a fistfight again. Echo seemed to trust him and stepped out of the room.

Rex went over to Fives’ bunk. “Mind if I sit? I am not in the position to be standing right now.”

His legs felt shaky and one wrong move would send him back to the toilet to vomit up the protein bar he had managed to choke down earlier.

“You do look like shit. What happened?” Fives said, shifting so Rex could sit.

He could always trust Fives not to mince words or beat around the bush. It was nice.

“I got very drunk,” he admitted. “And I do not recommend it.”

He snorted. “So that’s why Jesse was in charge yesterday.”

“How was he? Should I be worried about my job?”

“Eh. Ori’buyce, kih’kovid.” He laughed softly.

“I’ll make sure to give him your constructive criticism.” Rex teased. It felt nice to do so. He had been worried that Jesse was lying and Fives did in fact hate him and blame him for everything. But while things were definitely tense between them, it felt like it had healed. Like they had both gotten some shit off their chests and were now ready to move forward.

Fives winced. “Please don’t. I still don’t think he’s very happy with me.”

And just like that, the healing, teasing air shifted and changed. It wasn’t… tense, per se. At least not as tense as yesterday. But Rex could still feel it. They needed to talk.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have dismissed your feeling about the mission.”

Fives shook his head. “No. No, it’s not your fault. I’m sorry. You were right. We had orders. Maybe if I had proof or we had more time, we could have done something. But we didn’t. And I should have never put that on you.”

“And I should have done a better job at listening to you. Or trying to work with you to address your fears.”

“Rex,” Fives said, cutting him off. “No, you shouldn’t have. You and Ahsoka sent down an advanced scouting team you didn’t have to send. Smoke and Havoc cleared the planet and confirmed the number of clankers still wandering around. Windu is good at his job and would have never left with that many still on there. We scanned it. Everything seemed above board. There was no indication that they had constructed a tunnel system and were hiding in it. And, not even I could have predicted that Cad Bane of all people was going to show up. What else could you have done?”

Rex clenched his jaw. He felt like he should have done a lot more. Rationally, he knew that he had done everything in his power to get as much information as possible. He worked within the constraints as much as they would allow. And he doubted Ahsoka would have ever stayed up on the ship. Even if they did manage to trick, it’d be only temporary. The second she figured out they had left without her, she would have been flying down there herself to join the fight.

But just because Rex knew all that logically didn’t mean that he believed it emotionally. He should have done a better job. He had no idea what a ‘better job’ looked like, but he should have figured it out.

Fives scrubbed a hand down his tired face. “Look, I know you blame yourself for this. You would have even if I hadn’t said anything. That’s why I said what I said. I knew it was a weak point for you and I just… I don’t know. I wanted to make it hurt. I couldn’t take it out on the people who are actually responsible for it so I took it out on you. And that’s not fair to you.”

“I know,” Rex said. “I think a part of me wanted you to also say those things to prove that it wasn’t all in my head. That it was my fault.”

“It wasn’t,” Fives reiterated. “It’s not and I don’t blame you for any of this. If anything, I blame Pal—”

“I know.” Rex cut him off before he could finish that word. There were cameras. The last thing they needed was for Fives to be recorded accusing their chancellor of hiring a bounty hunter to kill Ahsoka.

But that was the other elephant in the room, wasn’t it? Someone had hired Cad Bane to kill her. Someone had used the ambush to distract them. Someone had gone to great lengths to make this whole thing look like an accident. And then there were the ‘coincidences’. No other Jedi were available to help out. No other battalions to lend aid. Their medical supplies were severely depleted. Ahsoka’s master sent out on another mission halfway across the galaxy.

Rex didn’t believe in coincidences just like Wolffe didn’t believe in luck. It was all too planned, too perfect. And that suggested that the person who hired Bane to kill Ahsoka wasn’t a separatist. They were in the Republic. They were a powerful force in the Republic. But they couldn’t talk about that here or now. They’d have to figure out some other way to communicate. And Rex was going to get all the commanders in on this. Because if what he thought was true, was actually true, this was big. Possibly big enough to destroy the government.

“Did submit your report on Bane yet?” Rex asked.

“Yup. Even messaged Commander Stone about it. Wanted to see if he could put a bounty out on him or something to bring that shabuir in so he doesn’t get another chance.”

“What’d he say?”

Fives shrugged apologetically. “Bane’s already on the most wanted list. There wasn’t much he could do. But he did promise to make it a priority. Still, bombing the Senate and the Jedi temple and breaking out a high-profile prisoner doesn’t exactly make you a small fry in the eyes of the government. I’m not sure they’re going to catch him, Rex.”

“Then we’ll just have to keep our eyes peeled and make sure he doesn’t get another chance to hurt her.”

They sat in silence for a bit longer before Fives spoke once more. “I’m serious, captain. I never blamed you. And I’m sorry for saying that I did. And I’m sorry I was difficult this mission.”

Rex nodded. “I know. Still doesn’t make the situation any better.”

“No, it does not.”

And that was the issue, wasn’t it? It didn’t matter what Fives meant or what he said. At the end of the day, they didn’t have the power to disobey orders. They didn’t have the power to say no. They didn’t have the power to keep Ahsoka safe.

That needed to change.

*****

Rex was the only one allowed to stay by Ahsoka’s side for more than an hour. He heard other troopers grumbling about it, but none of them spoke with much bite. They took one look at him, saw his ashen face and deep, sunken eyes, and bandages on his hands, and probably figured that he needed to stay by Ahsoka’s side before he did anything stupid.

Rex should have felt guilty about taking up so much space. He should have felt irritated that the troopers seemed to be pitying him and therefore weren’t fighting Kix as to why he got to say while they had to leave. He couldn’t bring himself to. He didn’t care.

All he cared about was watching Ahsoka’s chest rise and fall, her vitals showing up as steady, if a bit weak. Occasionally fighting the waves of anger that crashed over him when he realized that Ahsoka would be much further along in the healing process if they had a bacta tank on board or blood transfusions to give her.

He almost snapped at Kix in his anger, wanting to know why he wasn’t doing a better job. He managed to stop himself. It wasn’t his medic’s fault that they didn’t have supplies. Besides, Kix was good at what he did and somehow managed to pull off keeping Ahoska alive despite the fact that there was a fucking hole in her chest.

“She’ll heal, sir,” Kix said as he read over her vitals and made a few more notes in his chart. Her heartbeat was steady. Her breathing was steady. Even her mind seemed at ease.

“She’s stable enough now I think I’ll take her off the sleeping medication. She should wake up in a few hours on her own.”

“Is that really a good idea? Shouldn’t she be resting?”

“She should,” Kix said. “But we don’t have enough IV fluids to get to Coruscant and she lost a lot of blood. If she’s awake, she can take it orally. I know it’s not ideal, but it’s the best I can do.”

“I know. I know,” Rex sighed. “I wish you had more supplies.”

Kix clicked his tongue. “No use wishing for things we don’t have. Besides, you were in a worse situation back on Salucemi. Healing in a shed like that?” He shuddered. “I’m surprised you didn’t get yourself an infection.”

“Are you saying our good Samaritan’s barn was unclean?” Rex teased.

“Everything is unclean. Except for the med bay. Because I run it.” Kix put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay if you want to go for a walk or something. It’ll take a while for the medicine to leave her bloodstream and I’ll let you know if she starts to come to.”

“No, I’m fine. Thanks for the offer,” Rex said.

“Alright,” Kix said, surprisingly not putting up much of a fight. “By the way, Corric filled me in on what happened. Don’t think you’re going to get away with that, sir.”

“Are you threatening me?” he asked, knowing that Kix wouldn’t throw Rex to the wolves like that. If he hadn’t told Skywalker yet, then he wasn’t going to. Medics seemed to operate on a completely different system than the rest of the troopers. They put saving lives above everything else and weren’t afraid to bend or break the rules to do so.

He shrugged. “All I’m saying is I might be more inclined to look the other way if you come down for your physical next month without a fight.”

“Fine,” he sighed dramatically. “You win. Happy?”

“Extremely.”

“Only for the next month, though.”

“Damn. I guess I’ll have to figure out some other way to threaten you into submission.” He squeezed Rex’s shoulder one last time before going to attend to the other wounded men in the med bay.

It was much less chaotic than yesterday. All in all, there hadn’t been too many casualties from the battle. There were still deaths. Deaths Rex had to report. But just looking at the numbers one would assume the campaign had been a rousing success.

Rex could not tear his eyes away from Ahsoka’s limp form. He couldn’t bring himself to move and stretch his legs, even for a minute. He was afraid that as soon as he did, something would go wrong. That she wouldn’t wake up. That Kix had missed something and she was actually dying right now and if Rex left he’d miss the signs and then she’d be gone forever.

He knew these were just the result of an overactive mind and had no merits. Kix was the best medic in the GAR, at least in Rex’s opinion. If Ahsoka was dying, he’d know.

But again, logic and emotion didn’t always mesh together. And Rex’s fears were winning out over his rational thinking skills.

So he didn’t move.

He kept staring at her.

He kept waiting for her to wake up.

It took about three hours for her to start showing signs of waking.

“Kix! She’s waking up,” he called.

Kix rushed over without hesitation, leaving Corric to continue the med bay rounds on his own.

He ran a scanner over her and grinned. “Vitals look good. Breathing’s good. Remember, keep your voice down. Her hearing will be a little sensitive. I know I said you should leave and go for a walk or something, but would you mind staying here? It’ll help keep her calm.”

“If you think I’m leaving now, you’re mad,” Rex said, reaching out to grab Ahsoka’s hand. He hoped that would help ground her.

“I know, I know. Not even an ion canon to the chest could get you away from her now,” Kix said. “When she wakes up, she’s going to be a bit groggy and disoriented. Try to keep your emotions calm. She’ll be much more sensitive to them. And you can hug her but be gentle and try not to jostle her too much. She’s on pain meds so she might not feel her injury pulling. I don’t want to risk a tear in the wound now. Infection is still a high risk.”

“Got it,” Rex said.

It took her another thirty minutes to fully wake up. He and Kix didn’t leave the entire time. Corric came over to ask if they needed any help, but Kix waved him off.

“Let’s not overwhelm her with too many people,” he explained.

Corric nodded and left them alone.

Finally, Ahsoka’s eyes fluttered open and she turned to him. “Rex?” she asked, her voice groggy and raspy.

“Yeah, kid, I’m right here,” he said, fighting the urge to gather her up in his arms and sob. Instead, he smoothed a hand over her forehead, doing his best to radiate calm, pleasant emotions.

“What happened?” She asked, starting to push herself up.

Rex went to stop her when Kix grabbed his arm and helped her sit. “You got shot, ner ad’ika.” He stated. It was always Kix’s policy not to hide or downplay a patient’s injury unless they were dying.

“Oh.” She winced.

“Captain, come help me sit her up,” Kix ordered.

“Right, sorry,” Rex said, realizing that he had remained frozen at her side, unsure of where was okay and touch and what would only hurt her more.

Following Kix’s lead, though, they managed to get her sitting upright and settled on some pillows. Even doing that seemed to be exhausting for Ahsoka.

“Congratulations, commander,” Kix said, running a scanner over her once more, “you survived your first blaster bolt to the heart. However, next time, I suggest you dodge.”

Ahsoka smiled tiredly at him. “Sorry, Kix.”

“I mean, honestly, you have a glowy laser sword that can bat blaster shots back and you didn’t even use it. Did you forget you were a Jedi? Or do you enjoy making me go grey?” His scolding was gentle, more born out of fear than a need to punish.

Rex didn’t say anything. He didn’t know if he could. He felt like the second he opened his mouth he’d fall apart.

“I didn’t forget,” Ahsoka mumbled, picking at the blanket over her legs.

“Hmm. I’ll take your word for it. How are you feeling?”

“Cold,” she said softly. “And kind of fuzzy. My visions spotty too.”

Kix snapped his fingers next to her left lek and then her right one. “Hmm, you did lose a lot of blood. Corric and I will have to figure out a physical therapy program so your muscles don’t atrophy but you also don’t collapse. How’s your hearing? Muffled in any way?”

She shook her head. “My head kind of hurts, though. Like when you're standing too close to an explosion and your ears start ringing afterward.”

“Also makes sense, but that should go away as you heal.” He leaned back and grabbed two cups. “Water.” He held up the one in his right hand. “Bone broth.” He held up the one in his left. “I want you to drink these slowly. Okay? If you can’t finish, that’s fine. Go as slowly as you need to. If you can keep this down I’ll get you some more in the hour.”

“Did you use my rats for the bone broth,” Ahsoka said, pouting slightly.

Kix laughed and handed Rex the broth and helped Ahsoka start sipping the water. “No, your rats are all still safe and sound for you to hunt at a later date. After you get cleared by me.”

“I know,” she grumbled. “Can I leave the med bay, Kix? Please.”

He shook his head. “No can do, kid. You’re too injured and we don’t have the proper supplies to help you heal faster. I know you don’t like the med bay, but I’m sorry. I can’t risk you being away from Corric and me.”

It was probably a testament to how bad Ahsoka was feeling because she didn’t argue any longer.

“I’m sorry, kid. Really, I am,” Kix said.

“I know. Still cold.”

Kix laughed. “Alright. I’ll go see if we can get some blankets for you.”

“Steal Fives’ quilt.”

“Is that an order, commander?” he asked, a mischievous glint in his eye. He would have stolen it regardless.

Ahsoka nodded. “Yes. And Rex’s toast socks.”

“I am sitting right here,” he grumbled.

“Steal the socks,” Ahsoka reiterated.

“Well, who am I to disobey a direct order from my commanding officer,” Kix said, rubbing the top of her head. He turned to Rex. “Captain, after she’s finished with the water wait for about fifteen minutes before you give her the broth. Understood?”

Rex nodded.

“Good. Then I shall go get those things for you, Ahsoka. No escape attempts. I am not above handcuffing you to the bed.”

Ahsoka laughed. “Alright, Kix.”

The medic left them once more sitting in silence. Ahsoka’s smile dropped and she finished sipping the water. Rex took the cup from her and returned to his seat. He should say something. Right? That’s what he should do.

He opened his mouth, not sure what was going to come out but hopefully something reassuring and soft.

“I know what you’re going to say,” Ahsoka beat him to the punch, staring at the bacta patch that stood out stark white against her skin. Her skin was still pale and ashen from the blood loss.

Rex snapped his mouth shut and swallowed. “Oh? What’s that?”

“I need armor,” she mumbled, still not looking him in the eyes. Actually, she looked more like a cadet getting scolded for something mundane and not like a kid who had gotten shot in the fucking chest.

A laugh bubbled up to Rex’s lips. Only Ahsoka would survive nearly getting assassinated and have her first thought be to argue she still didn’t need armor.

He clapped a hand to his mouth, trying to stop laughing. Partially because he didn’t want Ahsoka to think he was laughing at her. Mostly because he could feel his tight control over his emotions rapidly fading. The last time he had lost control, he had gotten blackout drunk and Jesse had to drag his ass back to his bunk before he could accidentally kill himself. He could not expose Ahsoka to that side of him.

In spite of his best efforts, it was too late. Now that he started, he couldn’t stop. All the pain and grief and fear he had felt in those ten minutes he had waited for Kix rushed back to the surface. He had pushed them to the side during the battle, to focus on winning and getting out of there alive. And then on the ship last night had started to feel those emotions, only to immediately dull them with enough alcohol to knock a mythosaur out. And today, between talking to Fives, submitting all the necessary paperwork, and sitting by Ahsoka’s bed, he hadn’t had much of a chance to really comprehend what had happened.

Ahsoka had almost died.

Another inch to the left and that bolt would have gone right through her heart. If Rex hadn’t distracted her, if he hadn’t spotted Bane’s gun or looked up as soon as he spotted the glare, she might be dead. He might be sitting next to a dead body now.

His laughter became hysterical as he buried his head in his hands and pitched forward.

He knew that Ahsoka was alright. She was alive. He had just talked to her. She had just joked around with Kix. She didn’t appear to have any brain damage. She was awake. She was fine. She would heal. But it was like the only thing he could think about was how close she had been to death.

She had almost died.

He had almost lost her forever.

He felt someone wrap their arms around his head, pulling him into a body that was cool from blood loss.

“It’s okay, Rex. I’m fine,” she said softly.

“I’m sorry.” He choked out and began to sob, wrapping his arms around her waist. “I’m so sorry. Ni ceta. Ni ceta, ner ad’ika. Ne ceta.”

He was sorry for a lot of things. He was sorry that she was fighting in this war in the first place. He was sorry that her years as a padawan were being stolen from her. He was sorry that he and his brothers hadn’t been good enough to finish it before she needed to step on the battlefield. He was sorry she got shot. He was sorry that someone wanted her dead and was willing to hire Cad Bane to do it. He was sorry that he was sobbing like a child instead of comforting her.

Ahsoka was the one that had almost died.

Ahsoka was the one in pain.

He should be comforting her, not the other way around. He should be the one holding her and telling her that everything was going to be okay. But he wasn’t doing that. He was the one falling apart. He was the one putting the weight of the universe on the skinny shoulders of a child who should have never been forced to bear its burdens.

“Don’t apologize,” Ahsoka said.

Her voice was still raspy. He should probably be handing her the broth.

“It’s my fault. Didn’t sense them,” she said.

He pushed himself off the chair to stand, finally wrapping her up in his arms. As if he could possibly protect her from all the bad things in the galaxy. Even though he had already failed multiple times.

“No,” he said sharply. His body was still shaking. “No, this is not your fault in any way. Do you understand? You did nothing wrong.”

“I could have dodged.”

“You did dodge. That’s why you’re alive right now,” he said. He still had the self-control not to squeeze her tightly. “You’re alive right now. And you did nothing wrong.”

Tentatively, her arms wrapped around his waist and she slumped fully into him. She didn’t say anything else. Maybe she was still shaking off her medically induced coma. Maybe the blood loss was making her slugging.

It didn’t matter. Rex was speaking enough for both of them. He couldn’t stop the words now. Just like his laughter earlier, he spoke in a frantic, almost hysterical way.

“You are not allowed to die before me. Do you understand? I don’t care what you have to do. I don’t care how you do it. I don’t care if you have to leave me behind because I’m dead weight. You are going to outlive me. Whatever it takes,” he said. He knew it ultimately wasn’t up to them, but somehow saying it out loud made him feel like they did.

Ahsoka didn’t respond, instead just giving his waist a little squeeze.

Finally, after far too long sobbing on Rex’s part, the tears slowed and he felt a little calmer. A little more grounded. He probably should have broken down earlier to avoid this. He dropped his arms and went to step back so he could get the bone broth. Ahsoka didn’t let go.

“Stay. Please.” Her voice was quiet and cracked ever so slightly.

“Of course, vod’ika. I’m just getting the broth for you to drink. Think you can keep it down?”

Ahsoka nodded. Then hesitantly, let go of his waist. Rex grabbed the cup and went back to the bed, holding it out to her.

Ahsoka looked at the cup dumbly then back at him. For a minute there, he thought she was experiencing some form of short-term memory loss and forgot what she was supposed to be doing with the cup.

Then, she grabbed his hand and tugged him over to the bed. Rex got the hint.

“Alright, I’ll join you. But let me shift you so we’re both more comfortable,” he said gently.

Kix did not like people sharing beds in the med bay. It made it more difficult for him to react in an emergency. But Rex hoped just this once he’d let it slide. Especially since Ahsoka was freezing and wouldn’t be able to go back to the barracks for the rest of the trip.

He shifted her as gently as he could so he could slide behind her, resting his back on the wall and her resting against him. She took the cup from him and started to sip, once more slumping into his body and letting him support her weight.

“We match now,” she said after a few minutes.

“Me’ven?” He mumbled, feeling exhaustion settle into his bones.

It was almost as if seeing Ahsoka awake, talking to her, and then sobbing for ten minutes straight had wiped out all the energy he had. All he wanted to do was sleep and never wake up.

Ahsoka twisted so she could poke him in the chest. Right, where he got shot. “We match.”

He winced and grabbed her hand. “Kix says you shouldn’t twist,” he said. “You could rip your stitches.”

She settled back against his chest and finished up the broth, setting it down on the cart next to them.

“I think I’d rather have matching armor, kid,” he said.

She settled against him with a yawn. “I make no promises, Rex.” She patted his arm, eyes drooping closed as she started to drift off to sleep.

There was a lot they needed to deal with. Bane. Who hired him to kill her? Why? Why were they isolated? Who else was in on it? What was their ultimate goal? And so many more questions kept popping up. He should be dealing with them now. He should be working on plans and strategies to fix this before Bane had another chance to strike. He should be meeting with Fives, Echo, and Jesse to go over what they knew. He should be reaching out to Cody for suggestions on their next moves.

“It’s okay,” Ahsoka said, wrapping his arms more securely around her body. “You can sleep.”

“Says you, kid,” he muttered. He couldn’t fight his body’s exhaustion, though, and fell asleep to Ahsoka’s even breathing and steady heart rate.

And if, in a few hours, he woke up to find Fives’ favorite quilt draped over them with Fives passed out in a chair next to the bed, then so be it. Ahsoka was alright. And they’d figure out what was going on.

*****

CommanderCody: @CommanderWolffe, just letting you know Ahsoka was hurt in battle yesterday.

CommanderWolffe: What?

CommanderWolffe: What happened?

CommanderCody: Cad Bane was there. Tried to take her out. She’s fine. Kix says there’s no permanent damage. They’re headed to Coruscant now for better medical treatment.

CommanderWolffe: That’s it, I’m hunting down that demagolka. He’s going to tell me who hired him. Even if I have to rip off his limbs one by one to do it.

CommanderStone: We already have an APB out on him.

CommanderWolffe: Yeah? And have you managed to catch him yet?

CommanderCody: Wolffe, don’t abandon your post.

CommanderNeyo: You shouldn’t have told him. Now he’s going to go AWOL and we’re going to have to deal with it.

CommanderCody: He was going to find out eventually. Look, everyone just calm down. Something’s going on here.

CommanderWolffe: All the more reason for me to go find Bane and drag him back here so I can beat him until he tells me who fucking hired him!

CommanderCody: No. Don’t do that. We need to move carefully.

CommanderPonds: GAR Network

CommanderCody: I know. Wolffe, seriously, Obi-Wan has already reached out to Koon to let him know. Don’t go hunting down Bane. We might need you for something else.

CommanderPonds: You people are exhausting, you know that?

CommanderStone: We are very much aware.

CommanderBacara: You can’t blame them! Sok’ika getting hurt is horrible.

CommanderWolffe: Hurt on purpose.

CommanderCody: Wolffe. Think for a minute. You don’t have to hunt down Bane to get information.

CommanderWolffe: What do you mean?

CommanderCody: Maybe instead of focusing on Ahsoka right now you should call that twi’lek from a few months back and see if she’s free. I remember you going into great detail about how great she was in the sack. And you’re getting shore leave in a few weeks.

CommanderGree: Can we please stop talking about Wolffe’s body count?

CommanderWolffe: Fine. I won’t rip apart the galaxy until I find whatever shithole that hut’uun is hiding in.

CommanderBacara: Yeah, go get laid instead.

CommanderCody: And may that rendezvous prove very fruitful.

Chapter Text

The camera focused to show five troopers with the signature 212th gold splashed across their armor. Waxer, Boil, and Wooley were the three recognizable faces, having their own Creche to Command Episodes to thank for that. But the other two were unfamiliar to those who had been following Creche to Command for a while. They may have been present in a few of the other videos, but no names were coming to mind.

“Hey guys,” Waxer said, “Now, we don’t normally do this sort of thing. But—”

“Those damn 501st di’kute think they got a better song than us!” Boil butted in.

“And they’re wrong. Dead wrong,” Waxer said.

“Absolutely,” the unknown trooper on the left said, shaking his head in disgust.

“Doesn’t even compare!” Wooley cried. “And to prove it, we’re going to sing our best song and show you guys what actual good music is. Can’t believe they thought The Battleships was a good song.”

“And to help us out, Crys and Odd Ball are here,” Boil said, gesturing to the two troopers.

Crys and Odd Ball waved.

“Alright, enough chatting,” Waxer said. “Let’s show the neverde an actual good song before they think we all have horrible taste.”

And with that, the troopers started singing.

March along, sing our song, with the Army of the Rep
Count the brave, count the true, who have fought against the seps
We’re the Republic and proud of our name
We’re the Republic and proudly proclaim:

First to fight for the right
And to build Corrie’s might
And the Army goes rolling along
Proud of all we have done
Fighting till the battle’s won
And the army goes rolling along.

Then it’s Hi! Hi! Hey!
The Troopers are on their way
Count off the cadence loud and strong
For where’er we go
You will always know
That the Army goes rolling along

They finished the song with cheering and clapping.

“And that, my dear audience, is an actual good song,” Boil said, before shutting off the camera.

The number of people humming the song across the galaxy the next day increased by tenfold. General Grievous was most dismayed to hear it had spread like wildfire through his droid army. Eventually, Dooku had to tell him to just put up with it. They couldn’t afford to replace the entire droid army.

*****

Ahsoka had spent much of the journey back to Coruscant fading in and out of consciousness. She did try to stay awake as much as possible, but her body just would not let her. She had tried to use the Force to speed the healing process along, but that ended in a disaster when she had a seizure instead. Coming to was probably the first time she had ever seen Kix frazzled and so very clearly afraid.

He had hugged her tightly and made her swear that she would never try such a thing again.

She promised and spent the rest of the journey mostly asleep with very short bouts of consciousness in between where Kix would shove cups of broth and water into her hands demanding she drink them all.

It annoyed her to no end. Ahsoka had always felt very in control of her body. She didn’t know if it was a Jedi thing or a her thing. Either way, she knew how to move it to flip over blaster shots. She knew how hard she needed to push off the ground to make a jump. She knew where her arms were. Where her feet were. How fast her heart was beating. How heavy she was breathing. How high or low she was standing.

Aware of all of it. And able to control it down to the millimeter. Down to the heartbeat. Down to the breath.

Except now she had no control. She dropped off into sleep constantly, spilling soup and water all over her until a trooper had to literally sit with her and hold her hand up so she wouldn’t spill anymore. Her hands were numb and tingly. Sometimes she couldn’t feel her legs. Sometimes she woke up convinced that they weren’t there anymore and tore at the blankets and quilts until she could see them. Just to make sure. Her vision went in and out of focus, sometimes blacking out completely even though she wasn’t asleep.

Sometimes her heart and breathing were too fast and no amount of meditation could slow it down. Or sometimes it was too slow and she felt like she was suffocating, right on the edge of death, and unable to tell anyone what was wrong because not even she knew.

And the cold.

She had never felt more cold in her entire life.

Space was cold.

The ships they lived on were cold.

This cold was unlike anything she had ever felt before. It seemed that no matter how many troopers cuddled up with her or how many quilts they buried her in, she could never get warm. Kix finally banned them from putting any more blankets on her as it seemed like every trooper on the ship wanted to bury her in any they could get their hands on.

All in all, it was probably the worst experience Ahsoka had ever had in her life. Around Day 3 she was sick of sitting and sleeping all the time. Kix assured her that it was alright to sleep and that if they needed to get her fluids intravenously, they could do it. Rex practically begged her to sleep. The steady stream of troopers that filtered in and out of the med bay to sit with her said they didn’t mind if she fell asleep during their shifts.

Ahsoka had never felt more loved.

And maybe for that reason, her emotions were all over the place. Forget trying to control her body, she couldn’t even control her mind.

One time, while sitting and listening to Hardcase recount a particularly harrowing escape from Fox’s men the last time he and Jesse went to Coruscant, she burst into tears, dropping her cup of broth and spilling the liquid all over her. Which only made her cry harder.

Poor Hardcase didn’t know what to do and seemed torn between trying to convince Kix it wasn’t his fault and trying to comfort her.

Kix simply calmed him down, took Ahsoka in his arms, and assured her that everything was alright.

And that was true. She knew that was true. She was fine! She survived! She was getting stronger every day! It would take more than Cad Bane to take her out!

But her hands still felt numb and her body still felt cold and sometimes when Kix was changing her bandages she caught sight of the ugly, twisted scar on her chest that would never go away and she couldn’t walk and she couldn’t control when she fell asleep and she couldn’t even bathe herself because she couldn’t stand and she felt like a live wire of emotion ready to spark and go off at a moments notice and she hated it.

She hated all of it.

She hated how the medbay smelled.

She hated that she couldn’t move on her own.

She hated how everyone on the ship felt.

She hated that she couldn’t go visit people.

She hated that she couldn’t hold onto cups.

She hated that sometimes she just started crying for no reason and couldn’t stop and she wanted everything to go back to normal!

But it wasn’t going to go back to normal.

Not for a long time at least.

Because Kix was a miracle worker but even he couldn’t get her battle ready with little-to-no medical supplies on a ship deep in separatist space in the outer rim. Her healing would be slow and painful. Her muscles had already started to atrophy despite Kix and Corric’s best efforts to get her on some sort of physical therapy program. And it wasn’t just the fact that her body needed to heal that was causing her stress either.

She had almost died.

Actually died.

There is no death. There is only the Force.

Yeah, that was a nice sentiment when you were meditating in the temple or trying to move on after a particularly hard campaign. But when it was you that was dying? A whole other issue.

She didn’t remember much of the battle. But she remembered Rex being there. And how desperately she wanted to see him. He had his helmet on. But she wanted to see his face. She needed to see his face. She didn’t want the last thing she saw to be his helmet. She couldn’t remember if he had taken it off or not.

Now that she was a bit more cognizant, she hoped he didn’t. It was dangerous to be in the middle of a battle with his head exposed.

But she needed to see his face.

She was glad Rex was the one who had stayed with her while Kix was there. All of the troopers were her vod. But Rex was different. Rex was more than that. He was her ori’vod. The one person she could count on to make everything okay. When Rex was with her, that meant that she was safe. No matter what happened.

Only, she hadn’t been safe.

She had almost died.

And her mind refused to let go of that thought. Even as she slept, it sat there, whispering to her all that could have happened had Kix been a few minutes, a few seconds later.

There is no death. There is only the Force.

She felt guilty for even freaking out this much. There were actual people who died during the battle. She should be grateful and happy she had even survived. She was horrible for even reacting this badly. She should be assuring everyone that she was fine and joking with them about how bad of a shot Bane was and all that fun stuff.

After day four she finally felt like she had a good enough handle on her emotions to at least put up a front.

It didn’t stop the feelings festering inside, but it seemed to make the rest of the men more relaxed so she counted that as a win.

Rex didn’t seem convinced.

“Vod’ika,,” he said one night as she desperately tried to fight sleep just a bit longer, “it’s okay to not be okay. You went through a lot.” His hand was running over her head, petting her. Doing a very good job at putting her to sleep.

“I’m fine, Rex,” she mumbled, eyes drooping closed and letting her body relax against him. “I’ll be back up in no time. And wiping the floor with Fives next time we spar.”

Her chest ached and pulled at the thought of physical activity. Kix had her on a high amount of painkillers to make up for the fact that her body was basically left to its own devices to stitch itself back together. But sometimes she still got flashes of pain.

Rex just hmphed and hugged her tighter. “Remember, kid, if you fall we’re here for you. Okay? You don’t have to try and do this alone.”

She nodded, yawned, and drifted off to sleep before she could formulate a response. Rex’s words echoed in her head.

If you fall, we’re here for you. It was a nice sentiment. One that Ahsoka so desperately wanted to be true.

But she was a Jedi. A commander. She should be at peace with the concept of death. She should be accepting when it happened to her.

So why did she wake up with sticky tear tracks down her face? Why did she have nightmares of Cad Bane looming over her and cutting off her legs before finishing the job with another blaster bolt to the heart? Why could she not accept the fact that she would take a longer time to heal?

And that is roughly how the rest of the trip to Coruscant went. Ahsoka fading in and out of consciousness. Troopers fussed about her. Her trying to make light of the situation. And her feeling as if she were slowly coming apart at the seams and desperately trying to keep herself together.

Things only became more chaotic once they got to Coruscant. While she wasn’t fully aware of what was happening (thanks again, blood loss!), she did remember looking around her and thinking, ‘When’d the 501st change their colors to red and gold?’

It was only when she saw Helix and Cas did she realize that she was now no longer surrounded by the 501st, but by the 212th and Coruscant guard as well. Anakin and Master Obi-Wan had also joined. There were a lot of hurried conversations between the medics about her stability. Bacta patches and injections were given to her along with a blood transfusion that Dice, the Corrie Medic, had somehow managed to get from Chap, the Rancor medic.

Rex and Cody were busy trying to coordinate with the Corries to transport her to the Halls of Healing. Apparently, Fox was worried whoever wanted Ahsoka dead would try a nice, good old-fashioned platform explosion if they landed the ship.

It was kind of funny, seeing everyone rushing about and panicking. She wasn’t even dying (that she knew of, at least) but they were acting like she hadn’t been perfectly fine and stable for the last… however many days she had been in hyperspace.

Eventually, they did figure out how to get Ahsoka off the ship and to the Halls of Healing. Master Obi-Wan and Anakin were right there the entire time, telling her in soft voices that everything was going to be alright and she was going to be alright. Rex and Cody stayed too. No one seemed to argue that they shouldn’t. Kix and Corric went with, obviously, to both keep her stable on the ride over and to debrief the healers on what they needed to know.

Then, before she could blink, she had been shoved into the arms of the healers while Kix talked rapidly with one of them, making frantic gestures to his datapad with all her information on it. The healer didn’t seem that annoyed with Kix’s presence or the fact that he was being kind of bossy; nodding along solemnly to his instructions.

Eventually, and predictably, Ahsoka fell asleep once more. This time, instead of Rex’s hand smoothing over her forehead to help her sleep, it was Anakin’s. This time, she didn’t have any dreams.

She woke up a few hours later feeling much better than she had since getting shot. She still felt emotionally drained and like she could fall apart at any second if she thought too much about what had almost happened. But she felt better. And she made quick work of telling everyone in the room (Cody, Rex, Anakin, and Master Obi-Wan hadn’t left) that she was fine and everyone could stop fussing now.

She was in the Halls of Healing. Surrounded by Jedi and there was no way Bane would be stupid enough to try and kill her here.

If she could just convince them that she was fine, then maybe she could convince herself.

There was only one problem.

“No.” She said, crossing her arms and pointedly glaring at Anakin.

Not long after she had woken up, two Corries had stepped into the room and introduced themselves as her guards for the foreseeable future. One of the Corries was named Archer. He had a pretty distinctive helmet design with notches carved out of the fin. The other Corrie, named Sol, had a sun motif bursting across the cheek of his helmet. She was sure they were nice guys, but she didn’t want them guarding her like she was some sort of… damsel!

“Snips, it’s not up for debate,” Anakin said.

“I’m not having two guards follow me around everywhere while I’m on Coruscant,” she said, making sure to keep her glares at Anakin and Master Obi-Wan. She didn’t want the Corries to think that she was mad at them. They were probably ordered to be here and were just doing their job. But she was going to get mad at someone.

How was she supposed to forget she had almost died when she had two bright red reminders with her constantly?

“Someone tried to assassinate you, Ahsoka,” Master Obi-Wan said. He sounded tired. He looked tired.

They all looked tired.

“And I survived.”

“Barely,” Rex muttered.

She felt guilt course through her body. Now that she had more blood in her body and the gaping hole in her chest had closed, she was more aware of things. And Rex looked terrible. If Ahsoka had done nothing but sleep on the way to Coruscant, Rex looked like he hadn’t slept at all. He had dark circles under his eyes and his skin seemed waxy and pale. He hadn’t shaved in a few days either. His armor had been scrubbed clean. So clean that it was practically shiny once again, complete with a fresh new coat of paint, but he didn’t clean it. Ahsoka had overheard Tup telling Hawke that he had been the one to clean it off because he didn’t want Rex to have to see her blood that was still coating it.

She was not the only one who had been affected by this.

Which could have been a sign to accept the help graciously and get comfortable with the idea that Sol and Archer were going to be her shadows for the foreseeable future.

Or…

“I’ll be fine.”

It could be a sign to argue even more until they accepted that she was fine (even though she wasn’t) so they could leave her alone to break down in peace.

“My dear,” Master Obi-Wan said, “argue all you’d like. I was Anakin’s master, remember? It won’t work.”

Ahsoka kept glaring at him.

“If you’re worried about us being annoying or getting in your way, don’t worry, sir,” Sol said. “We do this sort of thing all the time. You won’t even know we’re here.”

Doubtful.

Ahsoka decided to switch tactics and break Cody instead. She turned to him. “Cody, tell them I don’t need to be watched!”

Cody snorted. “Nice try, kid. If I can wrangle the vode, I can wrangle you. It’s no use arguing. They’re staying.”

“You put them up to this, didn’t you?” she accused. “You’re the one who arranged for me to be babysat!”

“No, I did,” another trooper said before Cody could respond.

They all turned to see Representative Commander Fox walking through the Halls of Healing. He had a datapad in one hand and another energy drink in the other. He also looked like he hadn’t shaved or slept in days. Ahsoka was starting to think that was his default state.

“Sir!” Sol and Archer snapped into a salute.

Ahsoka found it telling that Rex didn’t. She wondered if it was because he was too tired to recognize that Fox was a superior officer, or if he simply didn’t care enough about Fox to show him some respect.

As soon as Fox stepped through the doors, Ahsoka felt a ripple of tension wash through the healers. Several of them snapped their heads up to look at them, gasping slightly.

One brave healer went up to him, stopping his march toward the group. “Sir, your heart rate is very high. Please, let us look you over. This is a place of healing and rest.” She smiled at him softly, letting her calm presence lap at Fox’s mental shields to relax him.

Fox stared at her. “Will ‘healing’ require me to sleep?”

Her smile dropped. “I mean… probably. When’s the last time you slept?”

“Three days ago. And no to the healing.” He tried to side-step around her but she was persistent.

She stepped in front of him once more and put a gentle hand on his bicep. “Sir, please. Relax. I worry for your heart. You are safe here. We can help you.”

Once more she had a serene smile on her face and her calm Force presence radiated throughout the room. Ahsoka knew what she was doing before she felt it. The healer was tugging on the exhaustion Fox was feeling to convince him to go to sleep. She was really good at it. Everyone in the room started yawning and Ahsoka suddenly was not too opposed to sinking down on the soft bed with soft blankets and pillows and resting just for a bit. Even Master Obi-Wan and Cody looked like they could take a nap and Anakin slumped down in the chair, head jerking forward just a bit as his eyes slipped closed.

Without breaking eye contact, Fox tucked the datapad under his arm and opened the energy drink with a satisfying pop. He took a long swig from the can and stepped around the shocked healer.

Just like that, the calm feeling was gone. And the poor healer was left sputtering and looking around at her fellow healers, wide-eyed and wondering why her technique hadn’t worked.

Archer went up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, sir. Our medic’s got this whole process on how to get him to sleep. We’ll tranq him later so he gets thirty minutes.”

“No one has ever resisted my calming techniques before!” she said, sobbing into her hands.

Archer grimaced. “Um… yeah… can one of you like… help her? Before she has a breakdown. I promise you, it’s not you, it’s him.”

A few other healers rushed to take the sobbing healer away.

Fox did not acknowledge the healer in any way, marching up to Ahsoka with a stony look on her face and a presence that made her want to shrink back against the pillows. Even though Cody had assured her he was nice and he had been nice to her during their talk the other day, he had a sense of presence about him that made her feel very small. It was even worse in person.

No wonder everyone in the GAR feared this man! He seemed to have the kind of glare that would light you on fire.

He stopped in front of her, staring down at her with a furrowed brow. The kind of furrow she recognized from Rex and Cody and other vode when they were trying to mentally work through a particularly difficult problem.

“You, commander, are being targeted by one of the best bounty hunters there is. A bounty hunter that has managed to evade our capture despite his extensive list of crimes putting him as one of the most wanted men in the galaxy. Furthermore, Bane does not come cheap. Which means that the person that wants you dead has a lot of money. And people with a lot of money have more than one way of making their problems disappear. This means that until such time that we either arrest Bane or arrest the people that hired him, you are going to be watched and guarded.”

Despite the fact that Ahsoka wanted nothing more than to disappear from Fox’s gaze, she was nothing if not stubborn. She was getting Archer and Sol removed from babysitting duty if it was the last thing she did.

She crossed her arms and did her best to level a glare at him. Fox didn’t even seem to notice.

“Would you do this if it were Rex getting hunted by Bane?”

“Kid, I would protect comb if Bane had his sights set on it. You’re not getting out of this. He is dangerous and I’m not messing around with your safety.”

Man, and she thought Cody was difficult to argue with.

“Trust me, I would not be wasting my limited resources if I did not think this was necessary,” Fox continued.

Ahsoka’s shoulders slumped. She knew it was a pointless endeavor. It seemed like everyone in the room thought she needed to be protected. Maybe she did. She didn’t know what Bane would try once he found out that she was still alive.

Actually… did he know she was still alive?

She shivered. Her eyes flickered out to the windows as speeders rushed by, as if she’d catch Bane going by with a blaster pointed at her. Was he good enough to shoot her from a moving vehicle?

“Besides,” Archer said cheerfully, pulling Ahsoka’s eyes away from the window and back to him. “We’re the best!” He gave her a thumbs up.

“Sadly,” Fox said. He studied Archer and Sol for a second with narrowed eyes and then turned back to Ahsoka. “Archer is not allowed to drive you anywhere.”

“Um… okay?”

He turned to Archer. “If I find out you so much as glanced at the driver's seat, I will toss you to Commander Wolffe and let him deal with you as he sees fit.”

Archer’s hand dropped. “Got it, sir.”

Fox nodded, seemingly content with Archer’s reaction to his threat. “Any other questions, commander?”

“Can I at least leave the Temple or am I on house arrest too?” she grumbled.

“It’s not house arrest. You can leave when the healers clear you,” Anakin said. “But this is for your own safety. We don’t know why Bane is after you or who hired him.”

“More importantly, the circumstances surrounding the attempt are worrying,” Master Obi-Wan said. There is a leak in our intel somewhere. The Senate. The Jedi. The GAR. Somehow, the Separatists knew you were going to be on that planet alone and moved accordingly. We need to find out where the leak is coming from.”

Ahsoka did not miss the way Cody, Rex, and Fox all glanced at each other.

“Please, Ahsoka,” Anakin said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Please do not try to ditch your guards. It’s only going to be for a week or so. I promise.”

Ahsoka groaned. “Fine. I won’t ditch them. But I’m not happy about it either.”

“People rarely are when we’re around,” Archer said.

Sol elbowed him in the stomach.

Cody shook his head fondly at their antics. “We’ll figure this out, ner vod’ika.” He leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers. “Do not be mean to Sol and Archer.”

“I won’t.”

Cody stood and turned to Anakin and Master Obi-Wan. “Generals, since our debrief on this whole incident isn’t until the afternoon, permission to take a brief leave?”

Master Obi-Wan nodded. “Permission granted.”

“Fantastic. “Cody put his helmet back on and then threw his hands over Rex and Fox’s shoulders. “Come on, boys. Let’s get you some actual food.”

“No, no, no, Cody, no. I’m too busy!” Fox said, frantically tapping away at the data pad while Cody dragged him and Rex out of the room.

It was kind of amusing to see Fox go from a stoic scary man to, well, what everyone looked like when Cody got ahold of him.

“You need to eat something that isn’t a ration bar and drink something that isn’t an energy drink, Fox. I can’t believe you. Dex gives all the Corries free food and you don’t take advantage of it.”

“Ori’vod,” Rex whined, though he was fighting less than Fox.

“Don’t ori’vod me, Rex. You look like crap. You need actual food.”

Fox and Rex both continued to protest as Cody successfully managed to drag them out the door.

“I can’t believe the Commander just went with him,” Archer said; his voice in quiet shock and awe.

“No wonder everyone always calls Commander Cody when there’s trouble,” Sol whispered back.

It was kind of amazing to witness. It was less amazing to be on the receiving end of it, though. Which is where Ahsoka found herself now.

“We should get going as well,” Master Obi-Wan said. “I’m sorry, my dear. I hope you won’t be too bored without our company.”

“I’ll find ways to entertain myself,” Ahsoka said.

Anakin definitely did not want to go. You didn’t even have to have the Force to sense that. Still, it was clear that they both had other work they needed to be doing and there would be no more visiting for the time being.

He bent down and gave her a hug. “I’m glad you’re alright, Snips.”

“Me too, Master.”

With that, they left the room. Now Ahsoka was completely alone with two unknown troopers who seemed more intent on staring out the window than actually watching her. She almost missed constantly falling asleep. That’d at least make the time pass faster and be less awkward.

She tried to ignore them for a bit. But the Healers hadn’t given her anything else to do. Nothing to read. Nothing to watch. No datapads to scroll the holonet or message any of her boys on the chatlogs to see how they were doing.

She did try to meditate.

For about thirty seconds before her mind started to drift to Bane and how any of those speeders just outside her window might contain him.

She decided not to try again.

She tried to sleep.

Apparently, her body had had enough rest on the ride over and wanted to be awake for now.

She groaned and sat up to look back at the Archer and Sol, who still hadn’t moved and were still staring out the window. Maybe they were the reason she couldn’t get comfortable.

“You guys don’t need to be right here,” Ahsoka said. “Really, I’m safe. You can—I don’t know— go check the perimeter or something?”

“No can do, sir,” Archer said. “Coruscant is a death trap. We need to be near you at all times to make sure we react quickly.”

“Honestly, don’t know why they have all the politicians here,” Sol scoffed. “You’re practically inviting all manner of assassins with these buildings.”

“Is it really that bad?”

“Oh yeah,” Sol said. “I mean, just looking out of this building now I see at least forty-two different places a sniper could be lying in wait to take a headshot. And that’s not even including all the speeders going by.”

Oh, so they weren’t just staring out the window for fun.

“You get that radio tower ten clicks east?”

“Forty-three places,” Sol corrected.

“I’m safe in the Halls of Healing.” She would be lying if she said she was trying to convince Sol and Archer. Nope. Instead, her arguments were all about trying to convince herself. It wasn’t working. But, if the Corries left, then maybe she’d feel safer!

Or maybe she’d feel less safe.

She wouldn’t know, though, unless they were gone.

“You guys do not have to be here,” she continued. “I’m sure you have other things to do.”

“Part of our job is keeping people safe,” Sol said. “We’re happy to help. Besides, it gets us out of evidence filing or nighttime patrols.”

“And ‘Fox Watch’.” Archer shuddered.

“’Fox Watch’?”

“Yeah, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the commander is a little… high-strung. Usually, two troopers are assigned to make sure he eats, sleeps, showers, and steps outside at least once per day. It’s a pain to get him to that, though,” Archer explained.

“Oh.”

They lapsed back into silence.

Ahsoka had never had to be guarded before. Was it always this awkward?

“I like your helmet, Archer,” she said, desperate for some sort of conversation to help the time pass.

Archer’s hand brushed the notched fin on top. “Thank you, sir. Commander Fox thinks it looks stupid.”

“Commander Fox is right,” Sol said.

“Shut up. Like you’re is much better.”

“Infinitely better.”

“Why is it notched?” Ahsoka asked, finally relaxing a bit at their bickering. Now this was familiar territory for her. Two troopers making jabs at one another to rile each other up. Just hearing it made her feel less like her entire world was imploding around her. And it gave her mind something to latch onto. Instead of the spiral of mixed emotions she had been dealing with.

“Oh, got caught up in a blaster fight with some gangsters,” Archer said. “One of them shot at me and it nicked the fin. I was going to get another one but the replacement never came in so I decided to notch the rest so it’d match.”

“That’s really cool,” she said, smiling. She loved hearing about how different troopers came up with their armor designs.

“Like I said, Commander Fox hates it. Thinks I look ‘unprofessional’.”

“You do,” Sol said. Ahsoka imagined he was rolling his eyes under his helmet.

“None of us look professional, vod,” Archer said, elbowing him.

Before Ahsoka could step in to stop them from bickering again, a Healer came up to her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Padawan Tano, you have another visitor,” he said.

Ahsoka pushed herself up on the cushions and furrowed her brow. “Another one? Who else could visit me?” Unless Anakin had somehow managed to shirk his duties with the Council or one of the 501st or 212th boys managed to sneak past security.

Actually, there was another option. “Oh, is it Barriss? I know she’s supposed to be coming back to Coruscant sometime this week.”

Archer and Sol had turned from their position at the window. There was a subtle difference in how they held their stance. Much less relaxed. Much more ready to attack. They seemed like they trusted that the Healer would not be so stupid as to let Cad Bane into her room, but were still ready to defend her if the need arose.

“It’s not Padawan Offee,” the healer said. “It’s the Chancellor.”

Archer and Sol froze and fear punched itself through Ahsoka so hard, she doubled over, gasping and clutching at her chest.

“Oh no! Padawan Tano!” The healer grasped her arms to steady her and called for backup.

Another healer came up to her, sensing her pain to see what was the issue.

“I’m fine. I’m fine,” Ahsoka gasped, shooing them away. “I think I just twisted wrong trying to sit up. That’s all.”

“It does seem concentrated in your chest,” the second healer said. She used the Force to ease Ahsoka’s pain slightly.

The first healer tsked and helped her lean back on her pillows. “I told you to take it easy. Really, there is no need to rush your healing. In fact, trying to rush it will only prolong the process. I already heard from your medic you attempted to use the Force to heal yourself once. You shall not be doing that again, young one.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” she said, glancing back over at Archer and Sol. Their fear had dissipated somewhat, but they were still on edge.

“I’ll tell the Chancellor he can come back later,” the first healer said.

There was something here. Something that Ahsoka was missing. Something wrong in the Force. She didn’t really want to see the Chancellor, but she was also curious.

“No, it’s fine,” she said. “He is the Chancellor. It’d be rude to send him away. Besides, company is always nice.” She gave her best smile to the healers.

They both studied her for a moment. They must have trusted that she wasn’t going to die from one more visitor because the first healer sighed and said, “Very well,” before sweeping back out of the room.

“If he does interrupt your healing,” the second healer said, “then I will have no problems kicking him out of here. I do not care if he is the Chancellor.”

“Of course,” Ahsoka said. So it wasn’t just Kix and the other trooper medics that didn’t seem to care about rank. It seemed to be a universal medical professional thing.

The second healer left her to go take care of other patients, which allowed Ahsoka to study Sol and Archer.

They were both still very much afraid, but now that she was used to it, she could handle their feelings. She had always been very attune to the emotions of others. More empathetic, one could say. It made the battlefield a pain to deal with because the fear, devastation, and pain could overwhelm her if she wasn’t careful. During her first battle, it overwhelmed her to the point where she ended up curled over a toilet vomiting for an hour afterward because she didn’t know how to block out all the negative emotions.

Thankfully, her boys knew how to shield well enough to keep their emotions from affecting her. And with the help of Master Obi-Wan and Anakin, she had managed to figure out ways to block out some of the stronger emotions when people either didn’t know how to shield or couldn’t shield.

Now, due to her injury and lack of strength, she felt like an initiate again. Completely open for everyone’s emotions to shove their way into her head. And Archer and Sol weren’t helping anything. They had, apparently, not had the training to shield and were practically a broadcast tower with everything they were feeling.

It made her anxious.

Not the fact that they were broadcasting, though. It was what they were broadcasting. Fear. Deep, overwhelming, all-consuming fear. The kind that had you waking up in the middle of the night screaming. The kind that felt like claws digging into your brain. The kind that stayed with you even when there was nothing to fear. They had been fine up until the healer had mentioned who was hear to visit her. As soon as she said it was the Chancellor, everything changed.

Why were Archer and Sol so afraid of him? Was it just because he was the Chancellor? Maybe. She’d be pretty nervous too if the leader of the entire Galactic Republic made an unexpected visit. But it didn’t feel right. This didn’t feel like the fear born out of uncertainty. They felt sure of their fear. They seemed to know exactly what to be afraid of and why.

She didn’t like it.

She needed to get to the bottom of it.

“My dear, it is so good to see you up and about,” a warm voice said.

She pulled her eyes away from Archer and Sol to look at the Chancellor. He seemed the same as always, wearing deep plum-colored robes with a soft smile on his face, flanked by several guards. Not Coruscant guards. His personal guards. Something about him wormed its way into her brain. She felt herself relax, almost involuntarily.

She didn’t need to be afraid.

This was the Chancellor.

He was warm. Nice. Kind. Almost like a grandfather.

Ahsoka was safe here.

Archer and Sol snapped into a salute, and with their salute, Ahsoka was pulled from the Chancellor’s emotions and back to theirs. Their fight or flight instincts were roaring and Ahsoka could practically smell their adrenaline soaking their blood.

Somehow, this made Ahsoka’s head feel clearer.

“Chancellor, what are you doing here? I’m sure you’re a very busy man,” she said.

“I wanted to see how you were doing. You’re being hailed as a hero, you know?” he said with a soft smile on his lips. “The people applaud your bravery in battle.”

“Just doing my job,” she said, laughing nervously.

She never could figure out what to do around the Chancellor. He seemed to really like Anakin, and Anakin really liked him. But he was colder to her. More distant. Which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Not everyone had to be her best friend. But sometimes, it felt weird. Like her presence was an obstacle to him.

Except now she could feel none of that. Instead, there was just warmth. Like when she, Echo, and Fives cuddled up under their favorite quilt to watch the latest episode of a fantasy series they had been pulled into recently.

“I feel awful for sending you out there like that. Had I known it was a trap, I never would have sent you there.”

“I should hope not,” Ahsoka said.

Ahsoka had never been drunk before, but she imagined it felt something like this. She felt pliant and loose. Drowsy, almost. But not, in the same way, she had felt after getting shot. This felt more natural. Calmer. She was safe here. Perfectly safe. And the Chancellor was a perfectly nice man. She really liked the Chancellor. He always had her best interest at heart.

“It wasn’t your fault,” she continued. She needed him to know it wasn’t his fault. That felt really important for some reason. “We have faulty intel often. We did our best. And we completed the mission.” She gave him what she could only assume was a dopey smile.

It felt right.

It felt nice.

“Indeed you did. But the guilt has been gnawing at me ever since I heard of your injury. Please, allow me to offer my personal guards for your protection until that dreadful bounty hunter can be brought to justice.”

It felt like a bucket of ice had been dumped over her, snapping her out of whatever haze she had been in. It took her a second to figure out what had happened. But as her mind cleared, she realized that something had shifted in Archer and Sol. That war between fight or flight had tipped towards one side: “fight”. In tipping in that one direction, it pulled Ahsoka with them.

What… what had just happened?

The Chancellor had offered his personal guards for her protection. No. No, she didn’t want that. Archer and Sol, despite being strangers, were familiar. They were comforting. She knew who they were and what they stood for. The Chancellor’s guards on the other hand felt blank.

Archer and Sol were afraid.

She needed to hold onto that no matter what other emotions came through her head.

Something was wrong here.

And it’d only get more wrong if she dismissed the Corries and accepted the Chancellor’s offer.

“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” she said. “I have two of the best Corries watching out for me.”

Palpatine’s eyes narrowed slightly. She felt an odd tug at her mind. As if her body was desperately trying to get back to that calm, drunk state she had been in before. She fought it and held onto Archer and Sol’s adrenaline to keep her grounded.

“And, while I agree that Cad Bane is dangerous, I think four guards is a little much. Besides, these are your personal guards. It’s not their job to look after padawans getting hunted by bounty hunters. But thank you so much for the offer.”

“I insist,” Chancellor Palpatine said. The warmth in his voice was still there, but it was colder. Much like how he spoke to her when she tried to tag along to Anakin and his meetings. “Besides, I’m sure these clones have other work they could be doing.”

Now Ahoska’s smile dropped. Yes, Archer and Sol were technically clones, but she did not like it when people referred to them as such. They were troopers, not clones. Each with their own individual personalities, styles, patterns of speech, and sense of humor.

“Your guards also have a job they can be doing. Protecting you,” Ahsoka said. “Besides, Representative Fox personally assigned them to me. And, as I’m sure you’re aware from his debates on the senate floor, once he puts his mind to something, it’s difficult to stop him.”

Palpatine’s smile was tight. “Of course. The Commander is very persuasive when he wants to be. Well, my dear, the offer still stands. As an apology for sending you on such a dangerous mission.”

“I am fine, Chancellor. Thank you again, though.”

“Of course. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a government to run. Please, recover quickly. We could use you in this fight against the Separatists.”

“I don’t plan on being here long, Chancellor,” she replied with a smile.

She watched him and his guards leave. Once he was out of the room, she turned to Archer and Sol, ready to ask them what that was all about. They still hadn’t relaxed even though he was out of the room. It was like every nerve in their bodies was alive and ready for a fight. She didn’t like it. And that feeling from earlier was weird.

“Padawan Tano, it’s time for your physical therapy,” a healer said before she had a chance to formulate her question.

“Ok, okay.”

Sol and Archer flanked her while she was helped into the wheelchair since she still couldn’t walk. Or stand for more than five seconds. Probably for the best, she didn’t ask them now. There were too many people around. She needed to be smart about this. She needed to be careful about how she investigated this. She needed to figure out what ‘this’ even was.

On the upside, it looked like she had something else to focus on instead of Bane.

She would get to the bottom of this problem. She may not be fighting with Rex and the others for the foreseeable future, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t help out in other ways.

*****

The past week was probably some of the worst for Cody in recent memory. The fear he had felt when he realized that Rex was drunk messaging him and Ahsoka wasn’t answering was suffocating. It was only made worse when Jesse messaged him on Rex’s chatlog. And then even worse when Cody had finally gotten the whole story as to what had happened.

He had somehow, miraculously, managed to hold himself together as he debriefed Obi-Wan before all three of them met with Jesse for a formal debrief. General Skywalker had managed to hold it together just long enough to finish the debrief. Only to immediately go to the nearest training room and trash the place once finished.

(Should they be more worried about General Skywalker’s inability to control his emotions? Or was that a problem for another time?)

Cody had gotten right to work getting Helix and Fox up to speed on what had happened, coordinating between the 212th, 501st, and Coruscant guard to get Ahsoka off the Resolute and into the hands of literally anyone with more medical supplies as soon as possible.

Kix, Helix, and Dice had also started frantically coordinating, along with the CMO from Rancor for any way possible to stabilize Ahsoka even more on their trip to Coruscant. Cody had walked in on more than one tense meeting with his medic and the others, talking about Ahsoka. The problems they were having. Potential solutions. Lack of medical equipment. All of that stuff that went way over Cody’s head.

The week it took for Ahsoka to get back to Coruscant had oscillated wildly between being the most boring week Cody had ever had, and the most frantic. When there was nothing to do, he felt restless, unable to sit still and pacing as he thought of everything that could go wrong. And when he was needed, it felt like he needed to do everything at the same time.

Thankfully, though, Ahsoka survived the trip and a select group of Corries and 212th members rushed to help her out.

Cody could still remember Helix’s disbelief at how Dice managed to get the togruta blood for an emergency transfusion.

” How’d you get the blood?” Helix asked.

“Chap stopped by and got it to me,” Dice said as they put the packs in coolers to keep them stable for transport.

“Did he get permission to leave Kamino?”

“Don’t ask about it.”

“How’d he even get here? Did someone drop him off?”

“Don’t ask about it.” And Helix did not ask about it.

Cody didn’t ask about it either. Later he would hear from Fox that Blitz told him Chap had smuggled himself off Kamino with the Bad Batch, had been dumped at a spaceport somewhere in the mid-rim, and then hitched a ride with a drug smuggler the rest of the way to Coruscant and then back to the port to be picked up by Hunter’s crew after they finished their mission.

Cody decided Dice was right. They shouldn’t be asking about it.

He had thought things would get better once Ahsoka was in Coruscant where she had access to better help. He thought that he’d be able to relax some and let his anxieties over what happened go.

Laying eyes on her for the first time had made everything so much worse.

He hadn’t actually seen her after she had gotten shot. And, fuck, she looked awful. Her skin was several shades too pale and her lips were tinged blue. Her eyes were open so she seemed to be awake, but she also didn’t seem to be aware of much going on around her. She seemed so small and fragile against those blankets. And she kept shivering. Even though she was buried under quilts and cuddled up next to a trooper named Cato, she was still shivering.

If this is what Rex and the others had to look at for the past week, it was no wonder they all seemed ready to fall apart. Cody was surprised they were functioning as well as they were! Besides one near-fist-fight between Rex and Fives, and then Rex getting blackout drunk, they all seemed to be compartmentalizing rather well.

Which was a miracle because Cody had the benefit of being separated from the situation. Cody had the benefit of hearing after the fact after Kix was more certain that Ahsoka was going to survive, that something terrible had happened.

All those hours of not knowing. Those minutes Rex held her on the battlefield unsure of if Kix was going to be fast enough or not. That had to be hell.

And the eyes of his brother confirmed that it was.

Cody would have loved to give Rex a chance to sleep it off. To relax and recover. He would have loved to tell Rex that everything was going to be okay and to let Cody handle it.

But sadly they didn’t live in a perfect world.

Obi-Wan was right, there was a leak somewhere in their system. And Cody wanted a chance to talk to his brothers about it somewhere where they wouldn’t be watched. They needed the chance to speak freely with one another without worrying about who was listening in.

Which brought them to Dex’s.

“I can’t believe you are dragging me all the way out here,” Fox grumbled, still not having pulled his nose out of whatever was going on with the Senate. His grumbling was mostly for show. He knew why Cody was bringing them here. It wasn’t just to eat.

Cody shoved him and Rex through the door. “Work that is not going away any time soon.”

The diner was busy like usual, but they weren’t going to be sitting with the neverde. What would be the point?

“Dex, do you have the back room available? We got two celebrities here,” he called.

Dex popped his head out from the kitchen and smiled when he realized it was Cody. “Of course, of course! Anything for my favorite troopers,” he said. He clapped a hand over Cody’s neck and led them to a small room in the back that was closed off from the rest of the restaurant. Right next to the walk-in freezer.

“Celebrities?” Rex said, wrinkling his nose.

“Yep. Fox is one of the best-loved politicians in the galaxy right now,” Cody explained. “Hard to believe such a thing exists but people love watching ‘Fox Talks’.”

“I hate that stupid name,” Fox grumbled, still tapping away on his datapad.

“Okay, that’s one. Who’s the other? Unless you’re saying you’re a celebrity.”

“I did win the Senate Intern ‘Hottest Trooper Poll,” Cody grinned.

“They got a new one going,” Fox said. “This or That Poll. I think you beat out Waxer but lost to Howzer.”

“Everyone loses to Howzer,” Cody said, rolling his eyes playfully. “But, no, Rex. The other celebrity isn’t me. It’s you, ner vod.”

“Me?” Rex might be a little too sleep deprived to be having this conversation.

Cody pressed on, just in case anyone was listening in. “Yes, you. Your episode of Creche to Command was one of the most watched videos in the entire series. Maybe one of the most watched videos on the holonet of all time.”

Rex choked and shook his head. “No! Why?”

“Because people love you and they think your interactions with Ahsoka are sweet.” Cody grinned and forced Rex and Fox to sit down at the little table. “We’ll get the usuals, Dex. Thanks.”

Dex nodded. “Corries eat free. I’ll put your two meals on Obi-Wan’s tab. Be right back with your food. I scrubbed the place just this morning so you have nothing to worry about. It’s clean.”

Translation: I checked for bugs and found none. You’re free to talk as you please.

“Thank you,” Cody said.

“Your general has a tab for you?” Rex said. “So long as we don’t abuse the privilege. Yep,” Cody replied. “And I’ve been hearing more and more places have started offering Corrie discounts. Anything to share, Fox?”

“New thing,” Fox grumbled, brow pinched as he tried to work out a problem on the pad. “A lot of local places have started giving discounts and free meals to the Corries as thanks for our work.”

“Ah, finally getting the recognition you deserve then,” Cody said.

He knew he was stalling. He needed to get this meeting up and running so they could figure out what the hell was going on. It was hard, though. Rarely did he and his brothers have the chance to sit and talk about their lives. He wanted to know what was going on with Fox. He wanted to know about Rex’s latest mundane problems. But they couldn’t have that. Because there was a leak. And someone powerful wanted Ahsoka dead.

“Seriously, can you stop working for ten minutes? It’s not going to kill you,” he said.

Fox shook his head. “I got put on two more committees this week and I’m currently the leader for four groups. And I have a feeling that number is about to jump to fifteen because we’re having a change in leadership due to the end of the fiscal year. And, for some reason, Palpatine keeps recommending me for positions.”

“Because you’re good at what you do,” Cody said.

Fox rolled his eyes and shook his head. “He wants me to burn out so I can quit. I refuse. I’ll fucking run this government for him just to spite his shebs.”

“Whatever you say, vod,” Cody said. Maybe they should take Fox back to the healers after this and see if they couldn’t get him to relax.

Or maybe Fox would finally be the thing that broke them completely and they’d never be welcome in the Halls of Healing ever again.

“Alright, boys,” Dex said, walking back with trays ladened with food. “I’ve got your orders right here. Rex, it’s good to see you. You should stop by more often. And bring Ahsoka when she’s feeling better.”

“Yeah, I will, Dex,” Rex said softly.

“Cody, tell Wolffe he is welcome here anytime.”

Cody choked on his drink, coughing and sputtering all over himself while giving Dex a weak thumbs up. Fox slapped him on the back, still not looking up from the datapad.

Dex shut the door behind them, cutting them off from the rest of the restaurant. 79s was good if you wanted some discretion, but it was too early in the day for Cody and the others to go there without looking like they might have a problem with alcohol. Especially since they were expected to give a debrief later. Besides, after Rex’s black-out session a few days ago, he was probably avoiding the stuff as much as possible.

Dex’s Diner was a little riskier because a lot of Jedi also frequented it, including Cody’s Jedi. But, Dex was always willing to lend the troopers the back room so they could have more private meetings. Although, now that Cody thought about it, he wondered if Dex’s willingness to lend out his back room had less to do with his altruism and more to do with how good Wolffe was in bed.

Nope.

Not even going to think about that.

That thought would scar him for life.

“Alright, Fox. You know the drill. Shut it down,” Cody said, no longer able to stall.

Fox whined but did shut down the datapad.

Rex numbly pushed his food back and forth across the plate. Cody would deal with his younger brother’s mental state later. Right now, they had a protocol to follow.

“You’ve scrubbed it?”

Fox nodded. “No bugs planted on it. It’s clean.”

“Right. Good. Rex, what happened? I thought Windu cleared the planet. There were only supposed to be a handful of droids left.”

“He did,” Rex said. “And we had Smoke and Havoc do a flyover to reconfirm. Those clankers were hiding out in a tunnel system under the two targets. And, for whatever reason, our scanners didn’t pick them up. We were ambushed.”

“I’m less concerned with the droids and more concerned with Bane,” Fox said. “he was there, in position, waiting for Ahsoka. He knew she would be in the City and not the capital. He knew when she would be there. And he knew the ambush was going to happen.”

Cody nodded. “Given the time constraints of the mission, it’s a leak. It has to be a leak. There’s no way someone hired Cad Bane and he just happened to be on the one planet Ahsoka would be on. I mean, he’s good, but he’s not that good.”

“Unless he tracked you,” Fox said.

Rex shrugged. “Maybe. We scrub the ships regularly to make sure that doesn’t happen. But, if the clankers can hide, then so could a tracking beacon. But I think it was a leak. This whole setup was too perfect.”

“Which begs the question of who hired him,” Cody said. “Separatists are an easy answer. And we know he’s been linked to Dooku in the past with Zero the Hutt’s escape and the stolen Holocron.”

Fox grunted. “I never liked the role Zero played in any of this. He’s too stupid. He’s a pawn. A cowardly pawn. We almost got him talking but then he broke out. Something tells me it’s more than just separatists. Someone else is playing a game here.”

“I agree. Separatists going after one padawan seems like a waste of resources. I know she’s influential with her series and all, but not enough to warrant this much focus on the enemy,” Cody said.

“Not only that, but they went out of their way to make it look random,” Fox added. “The B1 blaster for ballistics, the ambush, the fact that you didn’t have the appropriate medical supplies.”

“It’s the end of the cycle,” Rex said, still pushing around food on his plate. Maybe Cody should have held off on this meeting until he was a bit more rested. “We’re always running low at around this time.”

“Exactly,” Fox said. “It’s perfect. Too perfect. I don’t think it’s a separatist attack. Or, at least, not completely.”

“It’s either the GAR, the Jedi, or the Senate,” Cody said.

“Fives thinks it Palpatine,” Rex mumbled. “I hate to say it, but—”

“I agree,” Fox cut him off. “I think Palpatine is doing something else with this war.”

Cody furrowed his brow and turned to look at him. “How can you be so sure?”

Because Fox was sure. Cody may not have been able to sense his intentions, but he could tell in the way he cut Rex off, in the way he held himself, he was sure that Palpatine was the one behind this.

Still, instead of answering, he hesitated.

“Look, if you got something, share it with us.”

“I don’t have concrete proof.”

“The whole point of us meeting here is that we don’t need concrete proof. We can share theories without fear of retaliation,” Cody urged.

Fox sighed and massaged his brow. “Blitz and I have only accounted for about fifty percent of the war budget.”

“Fifty percent?” Cody said, taken aback. “Where’s the rest of it going?”

“That’s the thing, I don’t know. I’ve dug up all the contracts and invoices for the Kaminoan cloning operations, the gunship production, how much it costs to make those venerator class ships, the salaries of the natborn officers, our medical supplies, all of it. And while I might be missing something because there are so many moving pieces and the budget gets increased constantly, there is still way too much money missing from the war fund for it to be the result of a few misplaced invoices. I’m hoping that with the new fiscal year coming up in a few weeks, I might have a clearer picture, but something is off.”

“So, what? Palpatine is embezzling funds?” Cody asked. He wasn’t sure what this had to do with Ahsoka’s assassination attempt. Unless Fox was suggesting Palpatine used the funds to pay for Cad Bane.

“I don’t think so,” Fox replied. “I mean, yes, he is. But I don’t think it’s just about the money. He’s doing something.”

“Like paying assassins to kill children?” Rex muttered.

“I don’t know how much something like this would cost Bane, but I’m guessing it’s not in the quintillions of credits range,” Fox said. “He’s doing something else. I’m looking into it now, but he’s very good at scrubbing things. I don’t even know where to start or who to look into. And I don’t want to dig too deep in case I tip Palpatine off that we’re onto him.”

“What about Blitz? Did he uncover something?” Cody asked.

“I asked him to bug the rooms to see if any discussions happen when he’s not there, but he doesn’t want to. And I can’t force him,” Fox said. “Other than that, I told him to back off. He’s isolated on Kamino. I’m pretty certain I’m safe here because of how much of a stir it would cause. But Blitz isn’t as big of a figure as I am. I don’t even think the neverde know he exists. I want him to be careful.”

“Ahsoka is still in danger from Bane,” Rex said.

Once more, Fox shook his head. “No, I’m pretty sure Palpatine won’t try a blatant assassination attempt again. The last one was so thoroughly botched he knows we’re going to be watching for another one.”

“Let’s not say ‘Palpatine’,” Cody said.

“Come on, you can’t possibly think it’s anyone else. Who has that kind of power?” Rex said, slumping back in his seat.

“I don’t think that it’s someone else. But I also don’t want to focus solely on him and miss something else,” Cody said.

There was something about Palpatine that always rubbed him the wrong way. And really, who else would have the power to pull something like this off? But if they focused too much on him, they might miss other things going on. Palpatine, if he was the mastermind behind all this, was good at hiding. And you were only good at hiding if you had people helping you. By expanding their focus, they might uncover more pieces.

“Fine,” Fox sighed. “I don’t think whoever hired Bane to kill Ahsoka is going to try again. They went out of their way to make it look random. The that the Jedi know she’s a target, it’d be stupid to try again.”

“Then why Sol and Archer?” Cody asked.

“Because I want to make it seem like I don’t think that. Like I think Bane is still a threat. I want to distract our enemy with Sol and Archer so we can continue a more thorough investigation.”

“Any luck tracking Bane down?” Cody asked.

“Of course not,” Fox scoffed. “He’s been on the most wanted list for years now. One does not blow up the Jedi temple, break out a high-profile prisoner, and take several senators hostage and not be one of the most sought-after criminals in the galaxy. I doubt we’re going to get him.”

“I’ve got Wolffe meeting up with a bounty hunter to see if he can get any information out of her,” Cody said.

Rex wrinkled his nose. “I will kill myself if we figure out the conspiracy because of Wolffe’s dick.”

“Well, vod, he’s the only slut we have who’s actually planning the connections he’s making,” Cody said.

All and all, the conversation hadn’t brought up a lot of answers, only more questions. But he supposed that was a good place to start. He felt like he had something a bit more solid to bring to Obi-Wan now. He also should wrap this up so Rex could get some sleep.

“Now, then, the biggest question I have right now is how do we tell the Jedi about this.”

“We don’t,” Fox said.

This took Cody aback. “What do you mean?”

“I mean exactly that,” Fox growled. “We don’t tell the Jedi anything. We don’t tell them that Blitz and I found evidence of embezzling. We don’t tell them that Wolffe is meeting up with a bounty hunter. We don’t tell them about Palpatine. None of it, Cody.”

“Fox, come on. I know you don’t trust authority—”

“Damn right I don’t trust authority,” Fox said. “Telling the Jedi now would be suicide. We’d all be sent for reconditioning at best or decommissioning at worst. We cannot tell the Jedi anything. I don’t trust them.”

Something hot and uncomfortable flared in Cody’s gut. The need, the deep-seated desire to defend the Jedi. After all, they had been good to them. They had treated them like sentient creatures. They had allowed them names and to decorate their armor. How dare Fox say that they weren’t trustworthy. If they weren’t trustworthy, then why the hell was Cody following them into battle?

“We need their help.”

“We don’t need jack shit!” Fox said, slamming his hands on the table. “Think about it, Cody, the Jedi can’t do anything without Senate approval. And Palpatine runs the Senate. They may be good people, but that does not mean who they work for is good. Let me ask you this. If you are so sure the Jedi are a good resource to help take down Palpatine, why did neither of you speak up with the mission was ordered?”

Cody didn’t answer.

“Exactly.” Fox hissed.

“It’s not that simple. There were orders—”

“And who gave you those orders?” Fox shouted.

“Shut the hell up. You don’t know what you’re talking about, Fox!”

“You’re the one who doesn’t know a damn thing!”

Cody was taken aback by his reaction. The clone commanders didn’t tend to have bouts of explosive anger. The worst of them was probably Wolffe, whose anger came quick and hot. But it burned out fast and faded to a much less noticeable level.

Make no mistake, the Clone Commanders did get angry. But they were very good at keeping themselves calm and level-headed as they worked through it. Just ask the man whose knees Gree smashed after he heard him making lewd comments about General Unduli. Gree had been calm and in control the entire time.

And Cody, while he did feel anger, often kept a cap on it because it might cloud his judgment in battle.

Out of all of them, however, Fox was the one who was least likely to showcase any sort of anger. He had a sort of cold, blank expression that he used when he was angry. And then he would ruin your life. He would ruin your life but be so subtle about it, you wouldn’t even realize he was the one that ruined it.

Which was why his getting angry like this was such a shock. And because Cody was shocked, he couldn’t keep a cap on his own emotions. So he got angry. Which then led to this feedback loop where they both seemed to be getting angrier and angrier with every traded insult.

In the back of his mind, Cody hoped Dex had soundproofed this room.

“We all know how you feel about Kenobi. You trust him with your life, but you still didn’t speak up! And I know it’s not because you thought this was a good mission. Every trooper that so much as glanced at the details knew it was a trap,” Fox continued. “But you didn’t say anything because you knew it didn’t matter.”

Fox knew the exact words to say to cut right to the heart of Cody’s guilt. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t protest. He didn’t pull Obi-Wan aside and refused to do the mission until some aid was sent to Ahsoka. And look at what had happened, she had gotten shot.

“Here’s how this is going to play out,” Fox continued. “We will report it to the Jedi. The Jedi will report it to the Council. The Council will report it to the Senate. And then one of two things will happen. One: They don’t find any evidence that Palpatine is behind it because he’s good at hiding and we’re all accused of treason and executed. Or Two: They believe us and attempt to deal with Palpatine but because he’s good at what he does it causes massive internal fighting and now we’ve got a civil war on our hands on top of fighting the Separatists, which he may or may not be involved in, and there will be massive bloodshed.”

“You don’t know that!”