17 years ago - Unnamed Star system
In a burst of cronau radiation, the small shuttle reverted back to realspace. The shuttle was carbon-scored, and smoke wafted from the port engine. The shuttle shuddered visibly before the engines flickered to life.
Rwarrararagharrwar. Rworrr. A wookie hunched over a bleeding Besalisk roared.
Master Kralls not going to make it! Jedi Knight Atasy yelled, pushing his way towards the cabin through the small crowd crammed into the shuttle.
Were not Kriffing going to make it unless we get back to hyperspace! Wrench, take General Andarion and see if you can get that hyperdrive up and running. The clone in the pilot seat bellowed at a clone with a tattoo of a wheel on his seat. The clone, Wrench, saluted, and, grabbing one of the crying padawans, scrambled towards the engine bay of the ship.
The lights in the shuttle flickered, and dimmed to a dull red glow. Frak frak frak FRAK!
Are we followed?
I dont think so, General Shar, but Ill feel alot safer once were a jump or two away from here.
Shar, Relic, we need to figure out whats going on, and with Master Krall as he is, were the senior knights.
Indeed, Aara. The question most pressing on my mind is that of the clones. Why did they turn on the Jedi?
Order Sixty-six, maam. Orders came in from the chancellor himself, declaring that the jedi had turned traitor against the republic. Regulations state shoot to kill.
Gotta Admit it sounds possible, what with Generals Krell, Bulk, and that Traitor running around.
but you were a bunch of younglings and archaeologists, not real Generals, battalion chose to take arrest you.
What about your orders.
Were soldiers, sir, not butchers. Besides, weve fought with you for years, now, you are out brothers and soldiers in arms more than some politician. A second clone, Patches, spoke up.
Exactly. So, the 789th agreed to round you up, turn you over to the proper authorities.
But you helped us escape, youre piloting a ship to take us to safety. A Fosh, Knight, Gerbeir, shouted from the back.
Well, once we got back onto the holonet, when we saw the news, some of us got to thinking that what was happening wasnt too right. We fight for the Republic, not some Empire. That doesnt mean we fight for the man in charge, we fight for its institutions. Course, not everyone agreed.
Its bad when brother fights brother.
Both clones tilted their heads in sorrow.
So, you got us out.
Thats right. Heard about the massacre at the temple, and the boys and me realized that there was no trial waiting. The republic was gone. So, here we are. What now, Master Jedi?
Couldnt you have gotten our lightsabers back, though?
It was the sabers or you, and we figured you could....
A howl of sorrow erupted from the back.
Master Krall is gone. Whispered Padawan Orgey.
So many deaths. The force is screaming in pain. Shar spoke softly.
First order of business is getting someone safe. Then we recoup, figure out what to do.
Indeed. The Galaxy has forgotten why it needs Jedi. We will wait, and one day it will remember.
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Wrench cradled his deece in his arms as the crowded transport jostled, never losing his footing. He and his brothers stood alone, their painted armor and pristine weapons offering them a bubble of anonymous serenity amongst the teeming masses.
I dont like it, leaving the Jedi he said, opening a closed channel to his brothers. All wore their faces and shells, polished, but without any of the shine of the Kamino foundries. Blooded in battle, each clone had lost too many brothers to count, though many had rituals of memory. Sparks, for example, had painted a small dot between the green and yellow trimmings of the 745th for each of the fallen. Sparks was dead, now, shot by Wrench as he attempted to prevent the escape. Wrench idly rubbed his thumb over the spackle of spots he had added to his armor in honor of his dead batch-mate.
Relic nodded his head in agreement, but responded just the same They stick out like sore thumbs. Gotta get the lay of the land, and theres enough with our face out there that we wont be noticed.
Why are we hiding? Reeks of cowardice? Republics still around, even if that... Empires gutted it. The gruff voice of Mule interjected. Still Seps to fight.
Cause we dont know whats happened. Wrench retorted, glaring at the heavy trooper Republic let this happen, cant trust them with the Generals. Not yet, at least.
Wrench is right. The last of their group, Sergeant Nico agreed. Weve got a duty to the Generals, and that means we need to be out here, gathering intel. He glanced back at Wrench Patches and Clamshell and Bugle are with them, and theyre Jedi, warriors, even without sabers they can handle themselves.
Archaeologists and children, most of them, sir.
But still Jedi. The Sergeant's tone made it clear the conversation was over.
Relic stared out over the mass of refugees. His eyes followed a beautiful young twi-lek who was moving from refugee to refugee. She was not alone: many were wandering amongst the hopeless crowd, some people peddling their wares or belongings or themselves for credits for the next leg of their journey.
We need a place to hide. Cant leave the Jedi on Reecee for too long.
Seemed happy enough in the ruins of that old city... Joked Mule, though Wrench could tell that his heart wasnt really in the joke.
Heads up, warned Relic. Brothers. 456th, I think He pinged the location of their brothers on his companions HUD. A squad of clones in armor trimmed with a deep purple had just strolled into the cavernous hold.
The squads sergeant noticed them immediately and waved, leading his troops towards them.
Hail, Brothers! The Sergeant, whose face was adorned with Jaig Eyes and a purple spiral down one arm, called out, forgoing a closed channel for open communication. He intended to make a statement, then.
Brothers. Nico answered, clasping his counterparts right arm with his. Where are you travelling.
Coruscant. Reporting for duty to the glorious empire, travelling from Jomark.
Left a whole battlefield of tinnies and clankers behind us. Another clone, his armor dotted with purple paint splashes, scattered like bullet wounds on his torso added.
I even got me a Jedi. Cant believe they turned traitor, but we were ready. A second clone added. Wrench felt Mule shift, but someone, Relic, probably gently touched him.
You didnt serve with Krell. The jedi were planning this war from the start, the last clone in the purple armored squad said, his voice gruff. I was transferred from the 501st after Umbara, but Ill never forget how many of our brothers the jedi killed.
Where are you going? Asked the purple shelled sergeant, introducing himself as Regs, putting his hand on the clone that had just spoken.
Outer Rim, Odryn. Heard that was where the GAR was regrouping. Nico effortlessly lied, but the other clones stiffened slightly. Where the atmosphere had been convivial before, now it was tense. Wrench subtly shifted his Deece to be more accessible, and he knew that Relic had done the same and Mule had reached for his heavy repeater.
Republics Gone. We are soldiers of the Empire now, brothers. Regs growled. You know where your loyalties lie, right?
Empire, right. Slip of the tongue, still hasnt sunk in, yet. Nico nodded, and Regs relaxed, though a hand still rested lightly on the pistol holstered on his thigh.
For a while, the two groups sat, exchanging news of brothers they had served with or gotten to know on different leaves. Finally, as the ponderous bulk freighter docked with the great space station known as The Fist, the clone who had killed the Jedi turned to Relic and spoke.
With a name like yours, I bet you like old things. Lemme show you what I got off the Jedi I bagged. Without asking for a response, he pulled a lightsaber from his bag.
Thats a training saber. Relic spoke softly, and Wrench, who had relaxed, was tense as a board again.
Yeah, what? So? Jedis a jedi, Master or Padawan, traitors all. What, you a Jedi Lover?
Were Soldiers. Jorso'ran kando a tome. We dont kill children. Nico growled. He tensed the hand he had on his pistol, but Regs was faster, a blast of plasma burning up into the Sergeant's Face Plate.
Aruetii Regs shouted, even as two bright cerulean blasts left smoking holes in his armor. Mule had already opened fire with his heavy repeater, sending the clones from the 456th scattering, and Relic and Wrenches, already partially in cover behind benches of the transport, quickly dispatched them.
Mule crouched next to the Sergeant's body. Frak. Kriffing Frak. Patches should be here.
Relic, who had gone through a cycle of medic training crouched down next to mule. Hes gone. No amount of surgery and bacta will fix this. He checked the other fallen clones. This ones still breathing. He kneeled next to the clone with the bullet hole paint, carbon scoring adding to the design. Relic pulled a bacta patch from his pack.
What are you doing? Mule growled, putting a warning hand on relics arm. They tried to shoot us. They killed a kiddy. THEY KILLED THE SERGEANT.
Theyre brothers.
Are they? Nico was my batch mate. Weve been together since Kamino. They took that away from me. DO YOU KNOW HOW THAT FEELS?
Not a single one of us doesnt, Mule, thats why....
Wrench glanced at the door as warning klaxons shrilled through the almost empty cargo hold.
Argument for another time, mates. We need to get out of here. If we get off this ship, we can get lost in the station.
Grunting, Mule picked up the fallen Sergeants body and propped it over his shoulder, running for the airlock. Relic was not far behind, though Wrench had seen him whisper a blessing and collect the tags of each of the fallen, taking a moment to lay the bacta patch. Wrench himself knew that hed be adding more sparks to his armor.
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2 years ago
Jimbo stared down at the cup. It was empty. Again. He growled and reached for the bottle. It was contraband, but nobody cared. The commander shared it once in awhile, and so long as it was hidden when an inspection came by, nobody would say anything. All the old clones did it, all who remembered the old days and had... fought... in Knightfall.
A good soldier follows orders.
He drank for the nightmares, and he knew that a lot of his brothers did the same.
Deficient, hed once have thought if he heard of clones having nightmares. Defective.
But he remembered the creche. The bodies. And now he knew. Nothing that the Clankers had ever done could match up to what he and his brothers did. And since the end of the war, the nightmares had kept coming, newer, brighter. Kashyyyk, Bothawui, Murkhana, the oceans of blood only grew.
The 501st had once been the finest in the Galaxy, and torrent company the best of the best. Now nobody called it that. It was Vaders fist, and nothing more.
A good soldier follows orders.
Knightfall had been chaos, hell, in more ways than one. The Jedi fought bitterly, confused, but vicious in their defence against the clones.
Jimbo remembered Criscos voice over his faces Comms There are civvies here, evac orders?
And Appos answer Civvies? His voice hollow, as if he knew what was coming.
Younglings. Babies. Innocent
And Skywalkers, Vaders voice, had cut in. There are no civilians in this temple. Jimbo remembered Criscos protests, and how they had cut off in a soft gurgling, choking sound. He remembered the click in his helmet as it counted off Criscos death.
A good soldier follows orders.
Master Sinube had always been kind. Kookie, strange, and at times annoying, never a traitor. Jimbo remembered the sad smile, the slight shift of the cane. He knew that the Jedis saber was in the handle, but the old man never reached for it.
Im sorry I wasnt able to save you and your brothers. he had said Patience has won, yes, but the patience of the enemy. But, neverfear, Jimbo, one day you will be free. Yes?
And he had fired, killing the old man.
A good soldier follows orders.
There were lots of new clones, but they were not his brothers, not really. While most didnt even bear the same face as he and the commander and Hands and Sand and Tupper and Chopper and Jester and Kev and Appo and Gregor and Sindar and Jedi and Sketch and Punch and, no Punch and Sketch were dead, and Dogger and Booth and Hugs, even new cadets with the Fett face were different. Most didnt even want names, preferring their numerical designation. Spaarti clones, the majority of them, since the Kamino vats remained in the hands of the republic.
And, that in and of itself was the joke. The Emperor who had been elected to lead the republic now led an army against it, and Jimbo, who had been raised to defend the ideals of the republic, fought those ideals. And brother slaughtered brother in an eternal meat grinder.
Whats the point? mumbled Jimbo into his cup.
A Good Soldier Follows Orders.
Someone sat down next to him in the Mess, and through bleary, gummy eyes, he saw it was Tupper. Wordlessly, he pushed the empty bottle towards his brother. Shaking his head, Tupper put his Face, white and unrecognizable, down on the table and pulled out his own flask, filling Jimbos glass.
What are we doing, brother? Tupper mumbled.
Drinking. Forgetting.
I... just came back from my tour of the prisons. My turn at order 4256. The disgust was clear in the other clones face. I need this. He took a deep swig of the liquor. She was a spy, they said. Togruta... like the commander... A rebel, or a republican, or a tinnie. He scowled. She was just scared, and I had to... He trailed off.
The Generals would never have made us do that. Jimbo whispered. Never. They cared.
Tupper froze. Careful, thats treasonous talk. He scanned the mess, but nobody was near. The Commander, Rex, as he was once known, sat slumped and motionless, mechanically eating, and taking nothing in. He hadnt sat and joked with the men since... before.
Its true, though. You know that.
Tupper nodded. But orders are orders. He frowned. And a good soldier follows orders.
Im so tired.
Were clones. The best of the best. Tupper sounded as tired as Jimbo felt.
Jimbo shrugged, and raised a glass To the Generals. To Sinube. To Tano. To Kenobi. To Windu. To... Skywalker...
Tupper raised his bottle and lightly tapped Jimbos glass. I heard some survived the purge. He whispered. Survived Vader. In the outer rim. There was something in Tuppers voice, something that only a brother could have picked up. Jimbo looked into the other clones eyes and gave a slight nod.
A good soldier follows orders
Silently, they both got up and put on their Faces... Helmets, couldnt call them faces, anymore, since they were all the same. Side by side, they walked to the requisition office, where Tupper requisitioned a can of blue paint.
In the shadows of the unlit barracks, they wordlessly applied the paint to their armor. It had been years since theyd done this, but the motions still felt as natural as breathing. Delicately, Tupper and Jimbo trimmed their armor with Blue, lining the edges. Tupper added the handprints, one for each of his Batch brothers, killed defending Kamino years back. For Jimbo, it was blue bolts of lightning down the front and back of his face and shell.
As they silently worked, they were disturbed only once, when the door to the barracks slid open and Booth and Hugs and a spaarti clone, not a brother, walked in. They saw what was happening, and as the spaarti turned to raise the alarm, Hugs silently killed him. Wordlessly, Booth and Hugs sat with Tupper and Jimbo, and painted.
A good soldier follows orders.
Their work done, their shells looking as they were meant, the clones stole from shadow to shadow, slipping past patrols, racing towards the hanger, daring to hope that they could reach it before they were found.
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