#he’s not really supposed to be out of his tank yet by clone standards

[siennahrobek]

7:48 p.m. standard time

When Alpha-17 got a direct call from his old general, Obi-Wan Kenobi, he wasn’t entirely sure what to think. He hadn’t really talked with his old general for quite some time, not for any significant length of time at least. Their goodbyes after Rattatak had been brief and quiet, especially considering neither could speak well at that point. He had to go back to the front and Alpha-17 was ordered back to Kamino. He wasn’t completely benched, he would heal for the most part, enough, but someone preferred he didn’t stay out in battle.

He was sure General Kenobi needed something, but he hadn’t expected the call to contain what it did.

But now that the first call was ended with General Kenobi’s conviction-filled and firm statement – ‘with my life. And now, with my family’s lives as well’ – that proceeded his question of trust, he had a whole new layer of thoughts and even more now, feelings. Because, for whatever reason, this had changed everything.

Alphas weren’t supposed to have feelings, even less so than the other clone troopers. They were some of the first generally successful batches, although a bit more violent, impulsive and independent for the Kaminoan’s tastes. His class, although generally fine with the Jedi, had more of a strict loyalty to the Republic rather than the Generals they served under. Not that it often mattered, virtually no Alpha clones served directly under jedi in a commander, captain or similar capacity, they were better with reconnaissance and specialized missions.

At least, except Alpha-17. He had first met the Jedi, specifically General Shaak Ti, who had been stationed on Kamino at the time, and General Kenobi with his annoying little padawan, Skywalker, when there was a Separatist invasion of the planet and the cloning facilities. They had fought back the droids and even saved a few Tubies’ lives in the process.

Alpha-17 did not know exactly what he did to get Kenobi’s attention but the next thing he knew, the General was bringing him along to other missions. He didn’t think he officially had a rank at the time, but Kenobi seemed just fine with letting him have authority over the troops, stepping in as some sort of leadership figure.

General Kenobi had been surprisingly efficient, though Alpha-17 never had a shortage of things to complain about. His lack of a helmet was one of them, although the General at least had the sense to have some armor on his person, which he silently appreciated. Alpha-17 had learned a lot from General Kenobi at the time. If there was anything anyone wanted to know about the Jedi, he was open with answering any questions. Troopers became rather fond of him and even comfortable, as he treated them well. Apparently the jedi had encouraged some types of creativity and even names, which Alpha-17 found a bit odd but somehow, it almost seemed to help casualties, although he couldn’t be certain of the correlation.

He learned a lot about Kenobi specifically as well. The General would answer most questions if they were small and harmless about himself, such as his love for tea, likes and dislikes, hobbies and opinions. But if it came to something deeper and more personal, he was a master at redirecting the conversation without anyone being the wiser. No wonder he was called the Negotiator.

That didn’t stop Alpha-17 from learning the man through his actions and expressions. Somethings Alpha-17 had learned he hadn’t even asked.

By the time Kenobi had requested him to accompany him and Skywalker to another mission, this time to Jabiim, Alpha-17 probably would have taken out any politician on planet that gave him trouble. Would not have been that hard; Alpha-17 didn’t care much for politicians.

But after that place, when he and his general were captured and thought to be dead, and taken to Rattatak, Alpha-17 learned more about not only the Jedi and their culture through observation, but about the inner workings of his General as well.

He couldn’t forget their time on Rattatak, tortured and hopeless.

Nor could he forget how even though he probably should have, Kenobi never let him go. Alpha-17 was almost disappointed when he got reassigned and transferred back to Kamino. He wasn’t sure who did it, perhaps someone higher up thinking he was a liability, but after spending several weeks in a bacta tank, he was sent back to his home world to train soldiers alongside General Shaak Ti, stationed there. His training regimen was a bit brutal, but he could now safely say he had trained some of the best commanders and command class troops that had come out of Kamino. He was promoted to Captain, and he let his cadets have open names, encouraged it really, which, like the troops he saw in the Jedi’s command, helped their efficiency. So perhaps not a coincidence.

Training cadets, sometimes alongside General Shaak Ti, was not so bad, although he couldn’t say that he really cared for the weather anymore. The General was respectful and good, and she treated all the clones well, they had started to refer to themselves as brothers. One of his command class cadets showed even more certain promise and Alpha-17 found himself attempting to pull a few strings to help him get sent out to General Kenobi’s command. Cody would do well with him.

And he did. Alpha-17 had heard of their successes.

But learning what General Kenobi had said, that Cody had attacked him, that seemed ridiculous. Alpha-17 knew Commander Cody, he had trained him. He knew the commander was rather fond of his General; it seemed rather unrealistic. But hearing the General go on about choice and loyalty and then even going further to say he suspected an attack – an attack on the elderly, injured and children – that had unexpectedly rubbed Alpha-17 the wrong way. At the mention of escape, suddenly the alpha clone knew exactly what he was going to do. The statement that the General had brought to him, about trusting him with his family’s lives, just solidified it. Because wasn’t that exactly what Alpha-17 had been doing since the war started? Trusting others with the lives of his family?

It took him a long time to see his brothers as such.

Turning the call off, Alpha-17 spun on his heel and marched out. He was known for his steadfast loyalty to duty for the Republic. He and his brothers were bred for this.

The Kaminoans would never see it coming.

Captain Alpha-17 went straight to Commander Colt and explained the situation. Colt worked with General Shaak Ti much more than Alpha-17 did but respected her just as much. Liked her a whole lot more, he was sure.

“Are you certain of this?”

“Look, I trained Cody personally. He would never attack his General, no matter what,” Alpha-17 insisted. “I have no doubt they are right about the chips. And if so, that means whoever planned for us, also planned for us to turn against and kill the Jedi. And you don’t want to kill the Jedi, do you?”

Colt’s eyes hardened. “No.”

After that, Colt was quickly on board, and they made a plan to investigate the chips.

And then Alpha-17 told him about his other idea.

That took a bit more convincing, although it became much easier once he had explained in more depth to Commander Colt about the danger General Shaak Ti would be facing and was probably currently facing. Alpha-17 didn’t have all the answers, but he wasn’t stupid; he knew this was not going to end well for the Jedi or his brothers.

Then Colt got on board.

The next few hours were a frenzy of explaining, recruiting and bit of sleuthing, although that was more on Commander Colt’s part. Alpha-17 preferred a bit more of a brute force approach. With a team on the investigation and experimentation of the chips that were in their heads, Alpha-17 and Commander Colt, along with a few other clone leaders, gathered together, rather discreetly and implemented Alpha-17’s other plan.

A mutiny.

With the organization and teamwork of the clones – even the ones that had not yet passed all their tests and training – it was almost too easy to take over Tipoca City and surrounding facilities. Even if the Kaminoans had a fail safe for their product, the troopers moved too quickly and had too much surprise on them for those to do anything about it. Alpha-17 couldn’t say that he felt bad that a few died in the assault, but most of them ended up surviving. All Kaminoans, nat-born officers and bounty hunter trainers were locked away as Alpha-17 continued with his plan.

General Kenobi had only mentioned the possibility of the Jedi having to escape and evacuate Coruscant.

But he knew, and Alpha-17 knew, that was going to happen, one way or another.

And Alpha-17 would be ready for it.

Nearby fleets and ships – none had Jedi attachments – had been quickly called back to Kamino, where their ships were taken over, non-clones were brought to locked rooms and the ships immediately began to be retrofitted.

Alpha-17 knew the Sith were no joke. He had learned plenty from General Kenobi’s tidbits of history lessons. Learned plenty from even a simple dark sider like Ventress. And if the Sith had enough power to try and eradicate the Jedi, they would do so, and the Jedi would be forced to flee.

He would not be a brainwashed slave to whatever government would replace the Republic. None of the brothers would.

If the Jedi would have them (Alpha-17 had no doubt that they would; they were sentimental like that) they would also flee to whatever corner of the Galaxy their compatriots decided to run to. He couldn’t imagine many objecting to it.

The Jedi hadn’t started their evacuation quite yet, but the clones had.

Not everyone knew what was going on, but something was happening. Machines were packed up, sometimes piece by piece, and sent up into the destroyers. Babies that hadn’t been decanted yet, followed soon after the machines that kept them alive and safe were assembled as well. Walls from both inside the ships as well as the facilities below were torn out to reinforce the ships. The smartest of them worked out the quickest and best ways for longer term habitation.

Everything was nonstop and most realized the sense of urgency in the air.

Medical teams found the chips and quickly realized what they were for. No one was happy. A few slicers had been recruited and they had found a list of commands, nearly all of which chilled the troopers to the core. Anything from destroying their comms to destroying the Jedi to destroying themselves. One thing was for sure, they had to get them out. They quickly found a few ways of neutralizing the chips, although none of those ways were fast enough. A compound could be injected into the brain – very carefully – to destroy the chip but that was still very time consuming. Surgeries were also a choice, but there were few medical droids and specialists on Kamino to assist. Alpha-17 couldn’t yet take the time to have everyone have surgeries yet. They needed to be ready to escape. One of the medical personnel and a slicer had found an electronic pulse that temporarily nullified the chips from getting orders, but it only lasted a few hours. Neither were sure if multiple uses would bring about brain damage. It was a work in progress.

It wasn’t long when Commander Colt pulled him aside into a communications tower. They had cut off anything that wasn’t coming from the Jedi or specific ones they were waiting for, but things could still come in through other forms. They watched as a stream of a Senate meeting had commenced.

“I think you should see this,” one of the troopers at the desk said, grimly.

The Chancellor was in a dark cloak, a large hood over his head and obscuring his face. His voice had started off rather slow and gravelly but ended with a loud announcement. “The Jedi Rebellion has been foiled. Any remaining Jedi will be hunted down and defeated.”

Commander Colt and Alpha-17 looked at one another.

“The attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed but I assure you, my resolve has never been stronger,” the Chancellor continued. “In order to ensure the security and continuing stability the republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire for a safe and securer society!”

Commander Colt turned off as the speakers boomed with thunderous applause from the senate. He let out a sigh. “If the Jedi are not already dead, they will have to flee the planet.”

“General Kenobi mentioned having to evacuate,” Alpha-17 nodded. “Once the battle at the Temple is over, they will. Those who survive will run, and we will be ready for them when they do.”

Colt just glanced at him. “You plan to help them?”

“The Republic is gone. I was not raised to serve an Empire. You saw that command list. The Sith and the Empire will use us in ways the Jedi never would even dream of. There is a command to kill our brothers, ourselves.”

“That is why you started the mutiny,” Colt realized. “Because General Kenobi called you and mentioned a possible evacuation. And the Sith.”

“The Sith kill and destroy,” Alpha-17 growled. “We will no longer die for them.”

It was barely a half an hour after that when Kenobi contacted them again.

He looked weary, pained, and exhausted.

Alpha-17 wondered who he had to fight. It was probably a personal one.

Those were the worst and hardest kind.

The clone hadn’t cleaned himself up from the skirmishes he was involved in, one of the bounty hunters had gotten in a bit of a lucky shot. He was no longer bleeding but the cut on his head was still there, close to his facial scars. When Kenobi expressed concern, Alpha-17 could not contain his grin. The fights he had been in had been great.

There were a few other commanders in the room while Alpha-17 and Commander Colt spoke with Kenobi, listening as the Jedi explained the attack on the Temple, questions about the chips and their plan to evacuate the planet to flee. Colt didn’t tell him any specifics about the list of possible orders.

Colt and Alpha-17 looked at each other knowingly. Alpha-17 smirked when he explained the loophole in their duty. The Republic may have been first and the Jedi second, but the Republic was no more; they had no real loyalty to it. Especially with Kenobi’s talk of the Sith, Alpha-17 knew this was the right choice. The Sith were brainwashing the troopers. That would not stand.

Kenobi had offered a place with the Jedi for all of them. It wasn’t much; many of them had died and they would be on the run, but Alpha-17 knew the Empire wouldn’t like any of this, not what Colt and Alpha-17 were doing.

The clones had grinned, this certain kind, uncharacteristic for them.

It made Kenobi curious.

Colt had explained what they were doing, the mutiny they had already pulled off and the preparations that they were in the middle of. Alpha-17 watched his expressions, a myriad of ones that he couldn’t quite identify over the holo call. Perhaps if they were in person. There was plenty of confusion and surprise but also some relief, gratefulness and contentment. What Colt and Alpha-17 had done wasn’t what Kenobi was expecting but Alpha-17 was fairly certain he was glad that the clones wanted to go with them.

They were stuck with each other now, by choice, and both parties seemed rather alright about that.

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S4 E3: So Many Dragons in This One

Y’all so I’m like getting over a pretty nasty cold that’s pretty much wiped me clean like a hard reset and this episode coinciding with it is something else because this episode is essentially a fever dream start to finish.

First off:

If your mind didn’t immediately start playing ska-like alt rock and go through every lyric from “Escape From the City” then I can’t help you. Because that’s where my mind directly went and stayed for the entirety of this episode.

Back in the museum, Yugi learns about some more crypto-history.

Because Y’all, Yugioh just LOVES to screw with history. I mean we’ve already seen what they did to Seto Kaiba’s timeline, but get a load of what they’re about to do with world history.

(Arthur now has the USA gradient because I was at a loss of how else to describe Arthur. If Bandit Keith comes back then I’ll be mixing fonts, yet again.)

This was done mostly to recap the last 3 seasons, but also to drop in some brand new lore that came out of freakin nowhere.

Atlantis.

Yes, he said Atlantis.

(read more under the cut)

In the actual dialogue of the show, Tea mentions she read a single book about Atlantis once in her life, and then Joey and Tristan go “Tea, you nerd!” and it’s like wow the standards are low in this group. One single book, boys? That’s all it takes to be a nerd? When you have any of the KAIBAS right over there? One single book is the requirement?

Starting to think no one in this universe knows what a nerd is.

So the underwater cave dwelling from a few episodes back is none other than the Atlantis ruins. I feel like this should be a way bigger deal in terms of like all of history, since in this universe, Atlantis is time wise at the dawn of (checks wikipedia)...proto-writing...and yet they seem to really have their math and large construction science down.

The arch wasn’t really utilized (I hesitate to say “discovered” as it is an arch) until about 2000 BC or so. Good on the Atlanteans, I guess?

Don’t know why we’re getting so sidetracked by cards when a civilization 10000 years ago could make immense underwater 60 ft castles that don’t immediately collapse under the pressure, but this is the Yugioh universe and everyone’s card addiction runs strong and true.

It just seems funny to me that Hawkins, who devoted I want to say like 60 years of his life toward becoming a walking encyclopedia about Egypt, got super sidetracked and ended up 10000 leagues under the sea in Atlantis. He just threw all that Egypt work completely to the wind and basically changed his career at age I dunno 70 or so. Or maybe this guy is only 50 but he just seems super way old to me.

(And raising his granddaughter for some reason? Hell knows what happened to Rebecca’s parents, but knowing Yugioh, it will probably be really, really tragic.)

So then, although Atlantis is in our world and under the sea, Hawkins decides to throw another fast one on us.

(I just chose a random number, but Buzzfeed decided Washington was 34th. Which is wild.)

Bro took this moment to explain to me in great and excruciating detail that the Atlanteans in Aquaman did in fact invent tanks. Aquaman is his favorite. Ya, I know.

So I thought “ah, this is the Shadow Realm” (since we have seen Bakura just make a monster a real boy before) but then it became kind of unclear if the Shadow Realm is a different realm than this other realm which is just where the nice monsters live. So um...I’m still not sure about that one, I’ll get back to you when it’s made clear (I may never get back to you on that one)

Then Rebecca decides to drop this lore about the ghost that lives in Yugi Muto’s head that we’ve been *pretty Sure* up to this point was strictly Egyptian dealing with strictly Egyptian things.

I am not entirely sure how we’re going to take a guy who lived 5000 years ago and explain why he’s living now in AD 2002 Yugi Muto’s head because of some guy 10000 years ago. But they’re going to try.

Like I’ve heard this referred to as a filler season, because it uh did not happen in the Manga. So, legally, they can’t really touch the manga at all (and I assume they were probably waiting for the manga to finish at this point), and so we’re just gonna...pull Atlantis out of nowhere because the nice thing about Atlantis is that it is so freakin old that it is well outside of copyright. Completely fair use. But it’s still kinda wild.

Also, Yugi made sure to off-handedly tell us that most of the monsters who’ve invaded their world have been very, very, nice, and that’s why everyone has been so chill.

I mean. OK?

You still have literal dragons flying around but apparently only some of the dragons are mean and attack, the rest just chill and float around like a fish or something. Personally, I wouldn’t be thrilled by this.

Hawkins notices Yugi’s enchanted dead guy necklace, and without asking “so...does this belong to a dead guy? Did you get this from the dead guy’s corpse? Yugi? Yugi, look at me. Yugi, young man, is this another dead guy necklace you’ve been carrying around in your pocket because I feel like I see a problem here, buster.”

Hawkins suggests, instead:

Oh OK...that’s a lot to take in.

Didn’t expect giant possessed lady statues but it’s a nice spooky touch. Can’t have enough giant possessed lady statues in your anime, honestly.

Also, I’m really glad they gave this skinny lady statue a double chin.

And after all that, Hawkins decides he’s done with his one single afternoon in Japan, and he’s going to go and travel 16 hours back to the US stuck in a plane within hearing distance of Rebecca. Worth that 32 hour round trip for that one afternoon in Japan (or actually one way is 4 hours longer than the other way or something? I forget the details.)

And like the show had him blush and then Tea got mad, but like Yugi also blushed when Mai gave him a note once that said “thanks for the help!” so I feel like Yugi just shuts down completely whenever he has to deal with girls.

Maybe this is just the face Yugi makes when he quickly enters the pyramid zone and is like “Pharaoh, it’s getting mad weird out there!” And Pharaoh’s just sitting on his throne eating cheese whiz straight out of a can in star pj’s with matching bootspants and he’s like “My Gods, Yugi! If I’m here, and you’re here, who’s driving the plane!?” and then they just start shrugging at eachother about who has to go on the date this time until Yugi snaps out of it.

ah, a disembodied voice.

Literally thought it was my own voice.

It keeps Yugi up for a while, but when has Yugi ever fallen asleep right away on this show?

After Yugi calms down enough to go the hell to bed, we zoom back to our Xtreme sports boys who have finally decided to stop Tony Hawking all over this island long enough to deliver the sober news that Gurimo is freakin dead.

Which they barely brought up at all because who freakin cares about Gurimo? This guy sure didn’t.

Cool. Good plan.

Hard to rebuild civilization without people. Just throwing that out there.

But ya. Lets go end mankind on Episode 3. Thought it would take a little bit longer for him to get enough soul juice but apparently he’s good on the soul juice from these three juicy cards that have no souls (I thought).

3 God Cards + 1 Gurimo - 1 Rex - 1 Weevil = Destroy Humanity

First, a dream sequence.

This is one bizarre ass dream sequence and like...I don’t even know if I have much to say because it’s like...so out of left field and both out of the lore of this show and just barely inside the lore enough for it to work.

Still feels hella out of nowhere though.

That may be just the Dayquil talking.

Either way, we get to have Yugi run around in pjs again, but unfortunately they have no stars so I just don’t freakin care when see it. I get that stars are hard to animate and he’s a year older and maybe grew out of the star pj’s but c’mon. We had a good thing going, show.

But they hear a voice within the pyramid, and I’m using Tea’s font color here but it’s not Tea, it’s another girl who is...a lot like Tea honestly.

So up to this point we’ve accepted that the puzzle is all of Pharaoh’s mysteries and also mixed with the memories of Yugi as well. We have a room of short term memory (that pharaoh never uses) full of little clones of Yugi’s friends. We have a room full of all the lego pieces that Yugi lost over his young life (and 2 very cursed tamagachis.) We have a room that has a gigantic guardian Dark Magician who almost killed Shadi once. We also have several rooms that are just traps that can basically kill you, or if you are Shadi, just totally set you on fire, because screw Shadi.

Also it has this room:

But we find a new room that is like an entire fantasy realm and it’s like...so what memory is this?

Somewhat confusing if you’re me and you’ve assumed up to this point that everything in the puzzle has something to do with Pharaoh’s past. Apparently there’s just a door to another world in here they just never knew was here.

Just this entire time Yugi and Pharaoh were completely unaware that they had a DOOR TO ANOTHER WORLD in their necklace. Which, as I mentioned before, is where all the duel monsters live, but looks nothing like the Shadow Realm, which we’ve seen before.

And like honestly I kinda just figured at first that the giant eye was supposed to be there eating dragons, as if this was some sort of cycle of life for the duel monsters, to be a dragon, grow old, and then get devoured by the eyeball in the sky to start over again as nutrients to feed the baby dragons.

But in fact the eye is Not Normal and we should be alarmed by it.

Very hard to know what should and should not be normal when I’ve never seen this place before, also it has three crystal dragons that I guess the other monsters MUST be worshiping or something because check out the purple tile palace they made just for these crystal dragons.

Like this made me ask a LOT of questions about the civilization of duel monsters. Like who made this? Did a bunch of Kuriboh make this? Hell does this civilization works and is it a monarchy and are there castes?

Do they do taxes?

And then we meet her, the voice asking for our help, it’s this girl. Dark Magician girl. Nice to finally meet you. Wish it had a little more build up and made more sense.

We’ve talked to this chick before. She was digital at the time, but she kind of pretends that she already knows Pharaoh and Yugi and they kinda just...take this as it comes. I mean there wasn’t much time to deliver this dialogue so they were like, if the lady in the cornucopia hat says so, I guess we have to do the thing.

It is nice that we do finally get an explanation for why Pegasus could make all these cards but could not resurrect his dead wife--being that she is...not from this world.

But like now the puzzle not only dives into Pharaoh’s past but is also just a straight up a dimension portal. You can just...visit these people whenever? I guess?

I was getting used to the puzzle being a very large metaphor, and I wasn’t actually prepared for it to have a utilitarian use like a Stargate. This asks a lot of questions, but put those questions aside because we have to adopt this dragon by pulling a huge ass sword out of it’s right eyeball.

This show is SO mean to eyeballs.

She explains that there was some lore that lead to this sword being plunged into this buddy’s eye over here but I forgot it already. It was like half a sentence and then it was gone and I’m on Dayquil and I’m sure it’ll come back. At some point they’ll bring it all full circle, I’m sure.

Like if this happened in a dream then does this place even exist on a mortal plane at all? Can it only be accessed through dreams and being dead? It’s kind of a fascinating concept since these duel monsters have to be summoned through paper, which has all sorts of relevant meaning in a lot of Eastern mythologies.

Stuff I’ll never know because say goodbye to the Duel Monster Land that Apparently-Exists-Now-And-Absolutely-Always-Existed,-Stop-Thinking-About-Who-Invented-Tanks,-It-Was-Obviously-The-Atlanteans-10000-Years-Ago, we’re gonna go and take this huge ass dragon we have no business inheriting but are anyway because the dumbass ghost in our brain has this grand reputation that he banished some sort of evil 5000 years ago but has absolutely no memory of how the hell he did that or what even occurred, and because of his completely wiped bean, this makes him a complete idiot at best and a complete psychopath at his absolute worst.

But yeah, lets take this dragon and see what happens.

You gotta bring furniture, but the dragon is free. 2 bedrooms, no rugs, it’s free.

I just realized we got a dragon and not the sword. Only in this anime.

And then he wakes up to the last thing I expected.

It was nice of Yugi to take the time it took for him to get entirely dressed and ready, but I guess if the world has to end you gotta go out in style. Which for him means his school uniform because, although Yugi absolutely hates this school for some reason, he has a lot of pride for it. Just a crazy amount of school pride for how rarely he attends school and for the lengths he went to get out of soccer practice that one time. But will Yugi be caught dead in anything but his school colors? No.

HOW IS THIS CITY STILL STANDING.

Also Kaiba must be having a wild time on the top of Kaiba Tower but maybe he took a helicopter a while back to go on a world dragon tour because we didn’t hear a peep out of him this entire very Very VERY dragon-centric episode.

Really weird how many dragons there are with so few Kaibas. It’s like the moment they turned around, every dragon on Earth came out of hiding to throw a huge ass dragon party.

PS get a load of this dragon.

Why would you ever give a dragon an ass?

I don’t even know how this is possible because it doesn’t have a butt crack, but it’s got serious ass going on. It’s the Lizzo of dragons, when you set it to defense mode, it probs just twerks to intimidate the other side.

(Yugi’s friends are so freakin patient OMG)

Also how the hell can Yugi play this card on his duel disk if neither Kaiba or Pegasus have any idea this card exists? Magic, I guess? The duel disk is part magic?

Not like it matters much, we know from Bakura that you don’t need a duel disk to make real boy cards if you have a millennium item anyway.

So at this point I’m like...I think I watched the last episode of the season, I think it’s...out of order and bro was like “nope...it’s Episode 3. We’re still on Episode 3.”

And so after that it closed the...dimension joining portal, which was a Golden Compass style aurora borealis, then Dark Magician Girl returned to her home planet.

...Which is also dangling around Yugi’s neck.

This was a lot.

I have a lot of questions.

Everyone in domino SHOULD have a lot of questions but I think they all went back to bed.

A tornado with a GLOWING EYE tried to destroy their city, and they just rolled over and went back to bed.

This season sure takes off really quickly holy crap.

Now fair warning, because I’ve been hella sick the next recap is uhh...a huge mess so it will probably be a week or so before I post it/even get to it. At some point I started numbering them completely wrong and I either saved 10 caps to a different folder or I never made them in the first place and I honestly am not entirely sure. Last week is kind of a blur and it’s a mess on my desktop right now, so my pacing is gonna reflect that because I am...behind...on everything.

Oh dude and actually now that I look at what date it freakin is, I have to go to one of my best friends weddings real soon so can we just say...it might be a few weeks before I can steadily update again? I have to learn a whole dance routine for this giant wedding and y’all, I am not a dancer. And, while my friends have had dance classes since they were like 5, I’m like...low key extremely certain I will fall completely on my ass. Anyway, there is no way out of this situation I thought would never actually happen, and thought was just a funny idea they invented when they got drunk at the bachelorette, but nah, they remembered, and this is really happening but the bride will think it’s funny so here we go.

PS this dance is to the only existing mashup of Bollywood and N*syncs Bye Bye Bye (which, yes, it is a breakup song) I hope you feel the second hand embarrassment through your computer, I am dancing for 300+ people. Directly following the groom’s parent’s dance, which is 10 minutes long, and for which they hired a professional choreographer. We are the only dance out of four epically spectacular dances that is from the bride’s side, and our dance is...2 minutes and the equivalent of a high school lipsync.

TBH I'm low key excited to do it because potentially it could be a really great story depending on the reaction of what happens.

Anyway, so if I disappear for a while only to post fanart I’ve drawn out of stress, that is what I’ve been doing in the background. I’ve just been trying to remember how to do the Bye Bye Bye dance correctly for 2 straight weeks while feverishly trying to catch up with all my other work.

Also, because I mentioned George Washington, I had to go and find the horny grandma clip from Gilmore Girls and I’m so glad that two people on the internet managed to clip it, and I can’t believe the only two people who’ve clipped this did it with their phones. In fact, kudos to this youtuber for videoing a Tablet with his phone, because there’s no better way to watch a show from the 00′s than to make you feel really illegal about it.

[kcwcommentary]

VLD3x06 – “Tailing a Comet”

3x06 – “Tailing a Comet”

This episode is a mess. 

This commentary is long because I have a lot to critique.

Lance is in some Galra base. He’s looking through the scope of his bayard-turned-rifle. The red of the bayard and the blue of his armor looks so dissonant. I don’t know how the visual of the colors not matching resulting from the lion switch plot ever felt right to the EPs. It might match for whatever nostalgia they have of the old 80s Voltron, but it looks like an animation error.

Keith rushes in, taking out sentries. All the Paladins are there, including Allura, whose bayard is manifesting as a whip. A very inconsistent whip. Sometimes it acts solid, like a normal whip, wrapping around sentries. Other times, without anything to suggest a change, it acts like a blade, cutting sentries apart. Purposeful inconsistencies like the nature and behavior of her bayard make it difficult to track and anticipate how anything works in this show. It’s disorienting to watch. Just another absurdity of this show’s production.

Pidge does something to a computer and all the sentries shut down and fall over. That is a serious security vulnerability that one would think the Galra, with their 10,000-year old universe-wide empire, would have figured out and built their systems so that every sentry didn’t have a singular, unified off-switch.

Given what Pidge and Keith say at the end of the scene, the Paladins must be going around taking down various Galra bases before turning them over to the Blade of Marmora.

The sequence ends, revealing itself to be just an action set-piece. There was no narrative relevance to the scene, no reason for the scene to be in the story. It was solely there as pointless spectacle.

Back on the Castle Ship, Keith is talking to Shiro. Shiro remembers the battle with Zarkon, he remembers the Black Lion telling him to use the black bayard, and the next thing he remembers is waking up on a Galra ship. While Shiro could use a haircut, him in his white tank top is nice. Initially, I was just going to write that as a side-note in parentheses, but looking at Shiro’s bare arms, seeing precisely how the prosthetic connects to his arm is important. This won’t be relevant to some of my criticism for several seasons, but I want to point it out very specifically now so that I can come back to it when Shiro gets his new arm in season seven. It’s something I suspected, but I couldn’t remember any absolute textual evidence for what I have long thought. Seeing him in this tank top now, I know for certain, I’m right. This makes the new arm he gets in season seven even more abhorrent. I’ll wait until I get to those episodes to point out specifically why.

Keith points out that Shiro had “just unlocked the Black Lion’s ability to teleport.” He suggests maybe Black was trying to save Shiro by teleporting him or that maybe Zarkon somehow made Black teleport Shiro into Galra hands. This would have at least explained what happened to Shiro’s body. But since we know from future episodes that this isn’t Shiro, and that Black did not teleport Shiro to the Galra, the show leaves us with no explanation for what happened to Shiro’s body or how he died.

“Hey Keith, how many times are you going to have to save me before this is over?” Shiro asks. “As many times as it takes,” Keith answers. I love that they care about each other. And that makes the fact that they don’t talk to each other in season eight, acting as if they barely know each other, more infuriating.

Hair cut and face shaven, Shiro joins the others on the bridge. The first thing he says to them is to congratulate them on the work they’ve done in his absence in fighting against the Galra. Pidge interrupts with information she’s gotten from data she’s analyzed about Lotor, saying his most recent sightings have been in a particular “quadrant.” Shiro comments about the quadrant being huge. As I complained about the use of the word in 3x02 “Red Paladin,” I really don’t like that “quadrant” has become some go-to word for miscellaneous area divisions of space. The show remembers that Hunk is an engineer and intelligent, so they have him and Pidge go back and forth discussing a way to try to track the “comet.”

Lance actually comes to Keith’s room to talk to him. “You’re the leader now, right?” Lance says to Keith. This is an unnecessary, uncomfortable situation the show chose to put itself in. Lance talks about how they have “one Paladin too many.” Lance doesn’t want to take Blue away from Allura, so if Shiro resumes as Black Paladin and Keith goes back to Red, Lance thinks he should step aside. If the EPs of the show didn’t want to contort this show to fit their nostalgia of the old 80s Voltron, then this wouldn’t need to be an issue. There was nothing whatsoever wrong with having Allura as an admiral-level commander stationed on the Castle Ship. There she could be written as a leader, but as the Blue Paladin, she’s just kind of there, following orders instead of giving them.

Keith tries to convince Lance to just focus on the missions instead of worrying about it. To a small degree, Lance talking to Keith about this is Lance revealing some of his significant insecurities. With the unexplained rivalry between these two characters, character growth for them could have been built around Keith helping Lance learn to deal with his insecurities. This scene would be a step in such development, so Keith not recognizing here how severe Lance’s insecurities are makes sense. But the character development would need to continue in the future, and I think the show thinks that they do keep working on this character development, but they don’t ever really resolve the arc. It just sort of fizzles. At least, I don’t remember the show explaining how Lance deals with his insecurities.

Once again, the mice are shown having gone into the same (or similar) area of the ship’s systems with the two small crystals that they went into in 1x03 “Defenders of the Universe.” Like then, I don’t understand why the system was designed so that a technician couldn’t access it, thus necessitating using the mice to do so. Hunk promising the mice a “mouse shower” is cute though.

Hunk hitting the panel to make the ship send out whatever energy ring that is shown beaming out from the Castle is cliché, and, given the command input interface of this system, not really sensical. They detect the “comet” and begin pursuit. Their system locates the “comet” on a standard Galra ship, not Lotor’s, at a planet. Once again, the planet does not look like a planet.

Both Keith and Shiro simultaneously go to give the team commands. Keith defers to Shiro. I guess it makes sense that a readjustment like this moment might be realistic given the plot as it’s been this season, but I can’t watch it and not think about how the EPs wanted Keith as Black Paladin and wanted Shiro dead. Shiro thinks that the Galra must be transferring the “comet” to the base, but the ship ends up blasting the base. Shiro says they need more information, and Keith tells Shiro to take the Black Lion, that he’ll stay on the Castle with Coran and help provide support.

This suggests something that bothers me throughout the show. The Castle is a large ship and must have been designed with the intention of a larger crew than what Team Voltron has. They never do staff the Castle with such a crew though. Despite the show telling us about people joining the Voltron Coalition, none of those who join work on the Castle. The Olkari are a culture significantly made up of engineers, yet none join the crew. Slav supposedly helps on the Castle Ship at the end of season two, but he’s nowhere to be seen now. That the crew is never realistically staffed annoys me.

The Black Lion won’t respond to Shiro, so he tells Keith he’ll have to lead the mission. “It looks like you’re its true paladin now,” Shiro says. Ugh. Contextualizing this with the clone storyline, this is supposed to be a hint that this Shiro isn’t the real Shiro. The problem with that is that just last episode, Black specifically reacted to this clone, detected him, roared for him. There is literally no explanation for why Black would be interested in directing Keith to this clone last episode only to reject him now. Black wanted the clone last episode, but for Black now to not want the clone: the show is just ridiculously inconsistent. It’s like those in charge of the story cannot make up their minds about what the story is from one episode to the next.

The show expects us to think that somehow Black has bonded with Keith more than Shiro? That Shiro’s right in saying that Keith is Black’s “true paladin now.” That attempt by the show to make Keith Black Paladin is an act to delegitimize Shiro’s character entirely, including to degrade him from seasons one and two. The only explanation the show ever gives for Black choosing Keith over Shiro is that this is not really Shiro but a clone. But then, even once the real Shiro is put in the clone’s body, the show still has Black choose Keith over Shiro. That’s still the show delegitimizing Shiro in seasons one and two.

I can’t help but to feel insulted and offended by this storytelling decision. It’s like the show is ridiculing me for having thought the unified story of Shiro and Black in seasons one and two was good. This is the show calling me a fool for thinking Shiro and Black’s joint story in the first two seasons of the show meant something.

Shiro still tries to give leadership from the Castle Ship (there’s no narrative reason this couldn’t be Allura like it had been in the past).

Lotor’s generals bust in the base. (I still think Ezor’s sock head is an absurd design.) The Galra commander of the base shouts, “Lotor sent you to finish what he started!?” The episode doesn’t explain what the Galra commander meant by this.

The Paladins board the Galra ship, but there’s no crew. Even if Lotor is trying to act outside of the knowledge of the other Galra of the Empire, why wouldn’t there be sentries on the ship? They’re just robots, which means their allegiances should be programable.

Narti takes psychic control of the Galra base commander. She makes him shut down base security, which again makes all the sentries turn off. This again emphasizes what a severe security risk it is for the Galra to have all the sentries effectively have a singular off-button. Narti has him open the base’s roof, and inside is part of the teludav Team Voltron used to transport Zarkon’s ship in 2x12 “Best Laid Plans.”

The Paladins track down the “comet” to find instead a ship that’s been made from the “comet.” Wow, Lotor was fast. (So fast that it doesn’t feel realistic.) Episode 3x04 “Hole in the Sky,” wherein Lotor steals the “comet,” takes place between when Voltron fights him at Thayserix, seen in both 3x03 “The Hunted” and 3x05 “The Journey,” and when they find Shiro. Shiro loses consciousness during his pursuit of Voltron in “The Journey” seven days after Thayserix. Assuming a day or two of recovery on board the Castle before Keith and Shiro’s conversation at the start of this episode, that would mean Lotor would have had the “comet” processed and the ship constructed start-to-finish within maybe a week-and-a-half?? That is an unrealistic manufacturing timetable, especially if he’s doing all this relatively covertly.

Allura thinks that the Galra would never be able to operate the teludav without an Altean, and then she remembers that Haggar is Altean. This is written like Allura had forgotten and only just now remembered. The way she reacted upon seeing that Haggar is Altean at the end of season two, there’s no way that that would not have been something that was at the forefront of Allura’s mind. That’s why it’s weird that the show never made that revelation about Haggar a topic of discussion among Team Voltron before now.

Keith and Shiro have a disagreement. Keith thinks they should find and attack Lotor directly, thinking that stopping him will stop everything. Shiro thinks the most important problem to deal with is to prevent Lotor from having this ship he’s built and the Paladins should return to the Lions. Allura argues that Shiro has a point, Keith doesn’t exactly disagree, and says everyone else should return to their Lions while he looks for Lotor. Shiro tells Keith they all need to stick together. The rest of the Paladins concur. Keith gives in to the group.

As they move to leave, Lotor’s generals return and attack.

Keith and Axca fight, and for some unknown reason, it makes Keith think of the helmeted, unidentified Galra he ran into in the Weblum in 2x09 “The Belly of the Weblum.” There is literally nothing the episode presents about this moment of combat between Keith and Axca, nor about the Weblum meeting revisited in a quick set of flashbacks, to explain why Keith connected the two here and now. This moment of recognition is absolutely contrived.

Allura uses her bayard whip and wraps it around Zethrid’s rifle. Why she doesn’t use the whip to cut through the rifle, as we’ve seen her clearly cut through sentries with it, I don’t know. I know this is a show for a younger audience, so they can’t have Allura cut through Zethrid herself, but she could destroy the gun. Also, Hunk could have used his big gun to lay down a lot of suppression fire, but he never does. This fight does not feel well crafted.

The Paladins regroup and flee. Zethrid wants to pursue, but Axca orders her not to.

The Paladins discuss everything as they make their way back to the Lions. Keith confirms he knows Axca from the Weblum, but again, there is nothing about this fight now that would explain his realization. There’s worry about Haggar using the teludav to create wormholes, but honestly, I don’t see how this is an increase in Galra ability. Despite the Castle Ship’s having used wormholes in trying to distance themselves from Zarkon, Zarkon’s ship was able to traverse the same distance easily and quickly during his pursuit of them in season two. The distances traveled in this show are huge. We’re not talking from one star to another, we’re talking across the universe. Galra ships would have to have some form of travel comparable to wormholes to be able to do so, even if they don’t have teludavs specifically. Allura’s more concerned with Lotor having a ship made from the “comet.”

Pidge finally brings up something that’s at the core of this episode’s conflict: if Lotor has taken over for Zarkon, then why is he attacking a Galra base. I honestly would have expected this question to have been asked way earlier in the episode, like as soon as they detected the Galra cruiser firing on the base.

As Shiro and Coran bring the Castle Ship toward the planet to try to stop the Galra cruiser, Lotor’s “comet” ship attacks them.

A few words about the visual design of Lotor’s “comet” ship: to me, it looks silly. It looks clearly like a pair of legs. While I know that it eventually combines with other ships to form Sincline, and this ship is Sincline’s legs, it would have been nice if this ship didn’t look so obviously like legs.

When Voltron shows up, the “comet” ship takes off. Keith orders Voltron to form sword, and he uses the black bayard to do so. This doesn’t make any sense since in the past it was the red bayard in the Red Lion that formed the sword. This demonstrates another problem with the Paladins switching Lions: inconsistency of how Voltron is operated. We learn that Axca and Narti are piloting the “comet” ship, not Lotor. He’s off somewhere else, communicating with his generals here.

Shiro, Keith, and Allura kind of argue about attack priorities: The “comet” ship or the Galra cruiser with the teludav. “I thought taking down the ship made from the comet was the most important thing,” Keith aggressively says. It’s within character for Keith to become narrowly focused on something, so it’s not that it is unreasonable that Keith would find the need to deal with two targets in this situation difficult to think about. It does feel though like the show is purposefully trying to put Keith and Shiro at odds with one another in team leadership. Shiro yells to Keith that the Galra ship with the teludav is getting away.

Here’s another problem with this moment that reveals the whole dilemma to be contrived: While Voltron is fighting the “comet” ship, and Shiro is calling for Voltron to stop the ship with the teludav, the Castle Ship is doing nothing. The Castle Ship has been shown to be able to take out Galra ships many times before on this show. So why doesn’t it go after the ship with the teludav? Because the narrative is being forced to artificially manufacture contention between Shiro and Keith.

Shiro tells Keith to “lower your shield, shoot the cargo ship, and deal with the consequences.” Keith still thinks they can deal with the “comet” ship first before the other. Shiro yells, “There’s not enough time. You need to make a decision.” This is even writing Shiro’s character badly. If the decision is up to Keith to be made, then it’s clear what Keith’s decision is, so then Shiro shouldn’t be arguing otherwise. Again, this whole dilemma is totally contrived because the writers think that they’re making some big statement about how you can’t have two leaders. It feels like such a false, unnatural conflict between Shiro and Keith.

Keith eventually orders the team to execute Shiro’s plan: lower the shield and shoot the ship with the teludav. Given Lotor’s communication with the “comet” ship, he somehow knows that Voltron is going to do Shiro’s plan of lowering the shield to shoot the cargo ship. There is no reason that Lotor should know this.

Voltron drops its shield, brings up the shoulder canon, and Lotor orders the “comet” ship to “Fire, now!” Where is he that he can see this battle in such precise detail to order a ship to fire at such a specific moment? With the Paladins having said the cruiser was empty when they were on the planet, and with the way Lotor has been talking during this fight, he’s not here, so he wouldn’t be able to make such precise orders.

Keith seems to sense the “comet” ship firing, so he maneuvers Voltron out of the way, and the “comet” ship’s blast hits the teludav. That is a very precise angle that Voltron would have had to create in order to ensure that the “comet” ship’s blast would hit the teludav, so Voltron’s maneuver being purposeful to result in this outcome is highly unrealistic.

Voltron, now out of the way, just sits there, giving the “comet” ship time to re-aim and fire on them, this time hitting Voltron. The “comet” ship goes over to the cruiser so Zethrid and Ezor can board the “comet” ship. They then flee. Keith wants to pursue, but Shiro tells them to return to the Castle, that they need to figure out what is actually going on with Lotor’s actions/plans.

Shiro talks to Keith alone, apologizing for “stepping in.” Keith says he “thought he had it under control.” Shiro tells him, “You need to learn to pick your battles. Sometimes you have to make hard choices.” But Keith’s problem wasn’t that he wasn’t picking a battle or making a choice, so I don’t understand this supposed wisdom from Shiro. Shiro says that it was Keith’s “quick thinking that prevented Lotor from getting away with the teludav.” This confirms that we’re supposed to read the moment earlier when Keith maneuvers Voltron out of the way of the “comet” ship’s blast and the blast hits the teludav as being intentional, but setting up the necessary angle for that to happen is not something that could have happened as quickly as it did and in as stressful of a situation as it did, so again, that moment was highly unrealistic.

Shiro then again says, “The Black Lion has chosen you.” Ugh. It’s one thing for Black to chose Keith when Shiro’s unavailable, but it’s another for Black to choose Keith over Shiro. At this point, we’re supposed to think this is the real Shiro, so that’s explicitly what this scene is saying: that Black has chosen Keith over Shiro. Setting aside that this is a clone, the episode gives no explanation for why Black would choose Keith over Shiro. Shiro did the work of freeing Black from Zarkon’s influence. Shiro did the work to acquire the black bayard. And here the show is telling us that that strong bond Black had with Shiro that was necessary for it to be freed from Zarkon is now meaningless? Recontextualizing to view this as Black rejecting the clone, then the show needs to explain why Black was so connected to the clone last episode that it sensed the clone and directed Keith to go get him.

The Galra base commander is being interrogated by Haggar. He says he can’t remember anything other than whoever came had the correct landing codes. Narti must then be able to erase memories with her psychic powers. I’m still surprised that she’s not seen as a threat to Haggar. Haggar says she believes the commander, “but [he] still must pay for his failure” and she uses some miscellaneous purple energy to make him scream. Standing a short distance from her is Lotor, looking smug. For the commander to be there now, this scene has to have been some notable amount of time after the battle at the base.

And the episode ends.

So much of this episode is unexplained and contrived. Keith knowing Axca was the Galra he met in the Weblum. Lotor’s real-time awareness of the battle despite not being there to observe it, and his knowing precisely what Shiro’s attack plan is to relay that information to his generals. Shiro and Keith butting heads. The Castle Ship completely dropping out of the fight instead of attacking the one ship so that Voltron can attack the other. While there are a couple of good, yet brief moments in this episode, the vast majority of the episode is contrived or incoherent or disrespectful of past story.

[stonefreeak]

Another update! Here we go, y’all. The rescue in action!  There remains references to the injuries described in the previous ficlet, but it’s not as graphic.

Warning: This deals with the aftermath of an explosion.

Vokara Che is drinking a glass of water when it happens.

The Force shrieks, tearing through her, and in her shock her grip on the glass slips. It crashes against the floor of the Halls of Healing, splintering into a million pieces and splashing water everywhere. She pays it no attention, still lost in the feeling that washed over her through the Force.

Coming back to herself, Vokara looks around the Halls; all the other healers have stopped just as she did, looking around as if searching for danger—which means Vokara was not the only one who felt it. That is interesting, but also horrifying in its implications. What in the core worlds happened?

“Master Che?” Alana Kee, a Zabraki Jedi Knight specialised in burn injuries, calls for Vokara’s attention, her voice shaking. “W-what was that? You must have felt it too, Master…”

“I did.” She stares at the broken glass at her feet, uncomprehending. Slowly, oh so slowly, understanding dawns. “Whatever it was, it must have been what Master Yoda asked us to be vigilant of this morning…” she trails off, horrified at the implications.

“Everyone! Grab the kits I had you pack this morning! We could get a call at any moment and time could be of the essence!”

There’s a mad scramble in the Halls, all healers not occupied with patients rush to get their field kits.

Vokara stares at the main comm, hoping it will ring and that it won’t.

Minutes pass, slow and excruciating due to the ringing coldness of the Force. And then—!

Beep! Beep! Beep!

She reaches out for the comm, her hand shaking almost imperceptibly, and answers, “Halls of Healing, Master Healer Vokara Che speaking.”

“Yoda, this is.” The grandmaster sounds stressed, the from the background she can hear the sounds of running. Her stomach turns, but she steels herself with a deep breath.

“Master Yoda. Is this about the Force crying out?” Her voice feels strained and sounds it, even to her own ears.

“Felt it, did you?”

“We all did.”

There’s a brief pause, the Grandmaster likely collecting his thoughts, slotting this new piece of information in with the others.

“An explosion at the Senate, there was. Commed for help, a trooper did. To the hanger, Master Che, you must come.”

An explosion. At the Senate.

“Is Master Kenobi…?” she trails off, unsure how to word her question.

“Know, we do not. Unable to move, the trooper was. Know Master Kenobi’s status, he did not. Injured, Master Kenobi could be.”

“We’ve already packed our field kits, I should be able to make it to the hangar with a few other healers in five minutes.”

“Good, that is. Hurry, we must.”

The comm ends. Vokara takes a short steadying breath, before she turns to the room at large, looking at her fellow healers.

“Kee, Malan, Brahaa, Mil, and Pulsarleap, with me. The rest of you, prepare beds and bacta tanks. There has been an explosion at the Senate, Master Kenobi could be injured, we do not know his status as of yet. There could also be other injured parties, so prepare as many as we can spare. Make haste!”

“Yes, Master Che!”

~~~~

Padmé hugs herself as she stares at the smoke rising from the senate office building. Many senators and their entourages have already left the premises to return to their apartments, unwilling to stay close to the possible danger. Padmé, however, finds herself unwilling to leave. She hasn’t seen any signs of Obi-Wan, and that… that can only mean bad news.

“My lady, we really should return to the apartments. You’ll be much safer there,” Motée says, standing close to Padmé, a source of warmth and strength.

“No, Motée. Not until I know more about what happened.” She shakes her head. “Besides, the attack wasn’t against me.”

Motée looks like she wishes to argue, but ultimately relents with a soft ‘yes, my lady’ and returns to keeping a close eye to their surroundings.

“Padmé!” Bail Organa calls out from across the plaza, his large frame easily recognisable.

Relief washes over her as he hurries over to her. “Oh Bail, I’m so glad to see you safe. I have such a horrible feeling…”

He grasps her hands gently in his own. “I’m so relieved to see that you’re unharmed. While I knew the affected section was rather far from yours... Well, you can never know where someone is in the building, can you?” He smiles weakly, likely worrying about the same thing Padmé is.

“Do… do you know anything about Obi-Wan, Bail?” It’s a long shot, but if he knows, then…

Sabé’s hand is warm in the small of her back, a light grounding pressure.

Bail shakes his head sadly. "Unfortunately not. We had a meeting scheduled at thirteenth hour, but... I don't know where he was to be before then. If he was in the Chancellor's offices when the bombs went off he should be fine, but... Well, his schedule is only available to him, so I can’t know for sure."

"Of course not.” Padmé concedes the point with a tilt of her head. If the senatorial schedules, the supreme chancellor's especially, weren't locked behind numerous firewalls to keep them safe, assassinations would be far easier to facilitate as bounty hunters or assassins could check in advance where their target is supposed to be.

There’s a brief pause. Padmé swallows and tries to gather her thoughts.

"Do you think..." she trails off, unsure how to finish her own sentence. Could Obi-Wan have been in the epicenter of the blast? What if he's in there right now, dead on the ground, as they stand here unknowing?

"Calm yourself, Padmé. Don't imagine the worst just yet, it's fully possible his guards simply smuggled him out a different route to keep him hidden and safe. We don't know that he's been hurt, so we should keep our hopes up."

Padmé chuckles, though it wavers and sounds rather shrill. "I would feel much better if the emergency response forces were here already and taking care of things, or at the very least the judicial forces." She shakes her head. "This is the Senate Office building and yet the response from the judicial forces and medical emergency teams has been unforgivably slow!"

As she says the words, the sound of a ship landing draws her attention. It's not one of the standard ships, in fact it—!

"A temple ship? What are the Jedi doing here? And how did they get here so quickly?" Bail sounds puzzled.

Padmé’s stomach drops to her feet and a lump forms in her throat.

“Wouldn’t the troopers guarding Obi-Wan have a comm-number to the Temple?” she rasps out and swallows thickly.

Bail stares at her, eyes wide, before he turns back to the smoking building.

“Oh no…”

~~~~

"Go first, you should, Master Koon. With you, Master Che take. Stay here, Master Fisto and I will. Talk to the Judicial forces, someone must," Master Yoda says just before the ship lands outside the building.

"Understood, Master Yoda," Master Koon says, and nods to Vokara. She nods in return before she turns to the other Jedi waiting.

"We'll be heading into a building that is currently on fire. Be alert, we do not know if there are more bombs waiting or not. A clone trooper called Waxer has informed us that there are huge slabs of debris we might have to move, so be prepared for anything. We do not know how many injured there are, so stay on your guard and search for survivors through the Force. Master Kenobi and the Senators may be our main priority, but we cannot be remiss with any other lives who might have been caught in the blast."

"Yes, Master Che," Master Mil says with a nod, the others around her nodding in agreement.

The ship doors open and Vokara and Koon step out into the light in tandem. The plaza is less crowded than she would have expected, but perhaps a lot of the senators have simple left. Unimportant at the moment. If they find any still inside, then it will be something to think about.

She nods at Koon, and with a short application of the Force they're off running. There's no time to waste—lives might depend on them getting there quickly.

~~~~

Padmé stares as a group of Jedi sprint toward the office building. They're too fast for her to make out many details, but she could swear it’s Master Koon of the High Council at the front of the group.

"Master Yoda!" Bails voice rings out. Padmé turns her attention to him, and then follows his line of sight.

Standing by the transport is Master Yoda and a green-skinned nautolan Jedi Padmé was sure she recognised, but whose name she can’t seem to place at the moment. Behind them, moving inside of the transport, are a few other Jedi she doesn’t recognise.

Bail walks up towards them at a fast pace; Padmé quickly follows but has to jog keep up with his large strides.

“Senator Organa, Senator Amidala. Good to see you well, it is,” Master Yoda says as a way of greeting.

“Master Yoda,” Padmé says slightly breathlessly, “What brings the Jedi to the Senate?” She glances back at her handmaidens, who’ve fallen back to allow some small privacy, while remaining close enough to protect her should anything occur.

“Called by a clone trooper, we were. Help with the aftermath of the explosion, we will. Healers, we have already sent in.”

Healers being on-site, Jedi healers at that, does ease Padmé’s worries somewhat. If there are injured people inside the building, they couldn’t be in better hands.

“We’ve remained behind to speak with the Coruscant emergency response teams and judicial forces once they arrive,” the Nautolan Jedi says and crosses his arms over his chest. “And one healer has remained to keep sick transport prepared for any injured people the search team come across.”

"That is comforting to hear, Master Fisto," Bail says with a nod.

Oh, yes, Fisto. Master Kit Fisto of the Jedi High Council, that's who the Nautolan Jedi is, now Padmé remembers. In fact, she's a bit embarrassed that she forgot in the first place, but she forgives herself considering the circumstances.

"However, Master Jedi, is there perhaps anything you could tell me about Chancellor Kenobi? I'm... quite worried, I'm sure you understand," Bail continues, clasping his hands behind his back.

"Tell you, we cannot. Have news for you, we do not. Remain silent on the topic, we must." Master Yoda's ears droop, and he looks older than Padmé has ever seen him before. Her stomach twists and she worries. That does not sound promising.

~~~~

"There is a fire in sector 23B-42H. All building occupants are requested to leave the building immediately," the mechanic voice drones on and on, as the Jedi move through the empty halls as fast as they can.

Stretching his senses out, Plo Koon finds some life forces ahead of them. They should be nearing the epicentre of the blast soon, which means they should soon come upon injured people—be it senators or administrative staff.

"Help! Please! Someone!" A voice, hoarse and strained, calls out. A survivor. One who likely has not had contact with anyone else yet. Boil likely did not find her during his investigation of the surroundings before meeting up with Waxer, then.

Rounding a corner, Plo skids to a halt. The destruction of the hallway is immense, and on the floor, covered in cuts and with pieces of plastisteel and durasteel embedded in their body is a female Chagrain.

"Help, someone please help me!" she calls out again, before she breaks down into sobs. He moves toward her, but Master Che is faster, with another Twi’lek hot on her heels.

He watches as they kneel down next to the injured woman, speaking to her in low voices, soothing. Then Master Che reaches out with one hand and gently touches the woman's forehead and she falls asleep.

“Knight Malan, take her back to the ship and have them prepare her for surgery and bacta immersion,” Master Che says to the Twi’lek at her side.

“Yes, Master Che,” Knight Malan says with a nod, her lekku twitching, before they both get back to their feet.

Master Che’s eyes meet Plo’s. “We keep going,” she says resolutely.

~~~~

"Do you hear something?" Ha'han-ash says, her head tilted to the side. There is... something, in the far away. A voice, she thinks, though indistinct.

"Do you mean besides the messaging system telling us to evacuate the building?" Senator Chuchi's face is strained, and her blue skin has taken on a grey hue—almost ashen—and sweat gleams on her face. Ha'han-ash presumes the pain of her injuries must be immense; the damage to her leg looks awful.

“I think… someone might be coming for us,” Ha’han-ash says, though it strains her voice terribly. Unless they get help soon, she fears… Well… The trooper who found them said his partner is calling for backup, so they should be found soon.

Someone must come soon. If they don't... Ha'han-ash would prefer not to think about it, but with the way Senator Chuchi looks and the way her own lungs feel—breathing is heavy, voice is strained, drawing breath hurts—she doesn't think they can go much longer without medical attention.

Boil, as the clone trooper had introduced himself, had told them that his partner was calling for help, so the Jedi should be coming. She has great faith in them, they will be here soon, and their skills with healing is greater than almost any others in the galaxy. They will be fine.

If they can just hold out long enough.

She closes her eyes and lets herself slump back against the wall, much like Chuchi already has, and tries to focus on keeping her breathing steady. She... she wishes that Boil had stayed, but she understands that he had to keep searching for the Chancellor—of course he did—but she simply would have felt more secure with him still here.

The ominous creaking of the roof above them and the crackle of fire from far away leaves her acutely aware of their situation.

Bombs. In Senator Biwa's office... Why in the core worlds would anyone want to assassinate him? He's of a mid-rim world of minimal influence in the senate at large. Of course, if Cyllian III really wished to get out of this whole dispute about the deal, then killing the senator would certainly be a working solution... for a time.

But... it doesn't make sense. It's a plausible explanation for sure, but why would they have set off the bombs on the same day as their own senator would be visiting Senator Biwa's offices?

Unless they didn't know... The senatorial schedules aren't open to the public. They're stored on Senate servers behind multiple firewalls... But...

She breaks off into harsh coughing that rattles her chest and leaves her heaving for breath. Her head spins and she presses one hand to her mouth, the other clenching in her dress.

She tries to keep calm, but panic is clawing at her with every laboured breath she takes. She might die here. Die here in an assassination attempt made towards someone else. Now. Now that she has finally reached an influential position. Now that she may finally start help burning out the rot at the heart of the Republic.

It cannot end like this. It cannot.

"I think... I think they're coming," Senator Chuchi suddenly whispers, her voice thin and shaky.

Ha'han-ash can't answer as another round of coughs tears through her.

Footsteps, low voices speaking—arguing—and relief washes over Ha'han-ash like a tidal wave from the great sea.

Help has arrived.

~~~~

Boil's plan was to find the General, and depending on his condition either bring him and the senators in succession to Waxer to keep them all in one place. But once he finally found the General...

He gnashes his teeth together and pushes down the nausea that's been present along with the dizziness ever since the blast.

He holds the General's hand in a grip as hard as he dares, and makes sure he can see Boil at all times—Boil's helmet now on the floor next to him.

Boil tried talking to him, but he too seems to have been deafened by the explosion so instead Boil just stays with him.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

When Boil gets his hand on this assassin he's gonna beat the fucker to death for this. People can say what they will about the clones, but he and his brother are fucking loyal, and this is his General—his General who can barely breathe because of the huge durasteel rod piercing his chest, who seems utterly confused, whose eyes are unfocused, and who might be both bleeding out and dying from lack of oxygen at the same time right in front of Boil.

He knows Waxer called the Temple for backup, but he can only hope that they arrive in time, because General Kenobi doesn't seem to have much longer—at least not without medical attention.

He'd like to keep an eye out for help, but he can't look away from General Kenobi's pale face, and the way it glistens from sweat in the dim light.

He'll never forgive himself if Kenobi dies under his watch. He promised Cody he'd look after him, and he's his General. And though Kenobi would never ever ask for it... Boil was made for him.

The General squeezes his hand suddenly, bringing Boil out of his thoughts. There's a weak smile on the General's lips and he looks almost... grateful.

Then his lips move, he's saying something. Boil looks at his lips intently, determined to not miss these words, because they might be the General's last...

"I'm glad... I'm not alone... In the end..."

Boil's heart breaks.

~~~~

Vokara presses on ahead. Trooper Waxer is in good hands with Kee and Aldan, the senators will be fine in Master Mil's capable hands, and she's ascertained the direction Trooper Boil went in to find Master Kenobi.

Oh by the Force let them be in time.

Master Koon is at her side as they navigate the destroyed rooms carefully. How far was Master Kenobi thrown by the blast? He's far removed from the others—or perhaps it only feels as such with how slow their progression is from fear of causing further structural instability.

Her heart pounds in her chest as she rounds the last corner.

She stops.

She stares.

She moves.

Master Kenobi may be impaled by a rod of durasteel, but they will not lose him. She is the Master Healer of the Jedi order, and she will not rest until she has ensured his survival.

The Force hums with approval. It is not attachment that drives her, nor is it the fear of loss, instead it is the bone-deep knowledge that they need Master Kenobi that moves her hands, sets her will, and helps her draw deeper on the Force then she normally would in a situation like this.

He must live until she can get him proper care.

Wrapping her hands in the healing Force, she places one on Master Kenobi’s forehead and the other on his chest. Diagnose and treat what you can in the field to stabilise the patient is the name of the game—a game Vokara Che will not lose.

~~~~

Padmé draws closer to Bail’s side, her handmaidens a cluster around them, as the crowd and holonet reporters swarm the plaza, trying to get close enough for an interview with them or the Jedi.

She’s grateful the Judicial forces arrived before the bloodsuckers did, or else there might truly be chaos. She watches the door to the senate office building, the way there paved clear by walls of officers, desperate for the rest of the Jedi to return.

Two already have, a healer and a knight, carrying an injured chagrain with the Force, together loading her up in the ship to take her to the Temple’s healers.

Padmé is… slightly surprised. She would have assumed that they would only bring Obi-Wan to the Temple healers, and let the rest be taken to a regular emergency medcenter, but… No, it appears like they will take all victims they can find.

To keep them safe? To be able to ask questions? To ensure they get the best possible medical care? All of the above?

She’s not sure, and she’s hardly in a position to ask—especially since a conversation out here in the open could so easily be overheard.

Her musings get interrupted by Master Yoda’s comm beeping. She looks at him out of the corner of her eye, trying to appear unaffected and as if she’s not planning to listen in on whatever will be said.

“Yoda, this is.”

“Master Yoda, we’ll be bringing two injured troopers, two injured senators, another two injured aides, as well as Master Kenobi out shortly.” Master Koon’s deep voice sounds worried, Padmé thinks. It’s hard, sometimes, to tell with Jedi. They’re just too good to appear unaffected.

There’s a brief pause.

“Please make sure the way to the transport is clear, Master Yoda, it is… quite urgent.”

Oh. Oh no. Oh by the Gods.

Padmé’s stomach turns as she watches Master Yoda and Master Fisto talk with the head of the judicial forces to ensure the way be kept clear—reporters and civilians on both sides screaming questions and taking holopictures.

Shadows appear in the door, and she swallows harshly.

First are two Jedi carrying a zabraki woman and a selonian man with the Force.

Next, two Jedi carrying senators Ha’han-ash and Chuchi in much the same way.

After that, two clone troopers, one being supported by the other.

Last…

Oh…

Padmé breath catches in her throat.

Oh, Obi-Wan.

If it wasn’t for the Twi’lek Jedi walking next to him—floating on a piece of rubble as he is—clearly speaking with him, she would have thought him dead.

Pale and ashen skin, bloodied tunic, and pierced through the chest.

The noise of the crowd grows larger and larger until it reaches and almost unbearable level. Padmé leans heavily against Sabé and blinks rapidly to keep her tears at bay.

When the transport leaves, Master Fisto, Master Koon and two more Jedi stay behind.

Finally Padmé allows her handmaidens to lead her back to her apartment. Only once she’s finally in the safety of the privacy of her home does she cry.

~~~~

Vokara Che stares at her hands, as she washes the blood off them. The dyed pink water flushes down the drain of the sink, and she keeps washing and washing until it turns clear. Her head is still ringing with the cry of the Force, despite hours having passed since it occurred. Exhaustion seems to settle in her bones, and as soon as her hands are clean, she leaves the bathroom to take a much needed nap in one of the designated sleep areas of the Halls of Healing.

For the moment, there is nothing more she can do. She’s done all she can, and now, all she can do is place her faith in the Force.

“Alana,” she says, as she passes the Zabraki Jedi, “If anything changes, wake me up. I’ll be in the blue sleeping area.”

“Yes, Master Che,” Alana says with a nod of her horned head, before she turns back to the datapad she was looking at.

Vokara casts one last glance at Master Kenobi, floating in the bacta tank as he is, before she leaves the room.

The walk to the blue sleeping room feels longer than ever, and Vokara doesn’t even bother to disrobe before she crawls on top of one of the beds—it’s just a nap, anyway.

The pillow is soft and of just her preferred model—it’s why she always goes to the blue room—but even that doesn’t help her stop her spinning thoughts.

When Master Yoda had come by during the morning, before heading to meet with the council, and asked her to keep the Halls ready for anything, she hadn’t expected something like this.

Two Jedi known for precognition sensing something common is rare, and worth preparing for as it will almost certainly come to fruition. And yet, Vokara had placed her hope in the small chance that Master Yoda and Master Kenobi were wrong.

Master Kenobi…

She presses a hand across her eyes.

‘Sleep, Vokrara. There’s nothing more you can do for him right now, it all comes down to the will of the Force,’ she thinks, slowing her breathing.

Sleep.

—

(Supreme Chancellor Obi-Wan Kenobi masterpost)