#just a regular tank... NO ITS CLONE COMMANDER CODY

[nevertheless-moving]

Suicidal Misunderstanding XIX

Part I - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Part XVI - - - - Part XVII - - - - XVIII

Star Wars Time Travel AU #27

Author’s Note: This chapter may contain triggering material. Depicts canon-typical violence and deals heavily with themes concerning the aftermath of attempted suicide. 

“Commander- Cody- CODY! Would you wait up.”

Someone was calling his name, but now that the briefing was over Cody was having trouble focusing past the faint ringing in his ears. He worked furiously to move past the white noise and marshal his sluggish thoughts towards overseeing the shuttling of the remaining on-planet 212th back to the Negotiator, and finishing crew complement reports for General Krell and-

He had barely gotten his train of thought back on track when it was derailed by someone grabbing his shoulder. He barely managed to restrain himself from punching the irritant in the visor.

“What is it, Waxer?” he asked impatiently.

“Can we talk? Alone?”

“Fine.” Cody grunted.

Waxer dragged him into the closest small armament room. At a sharp gesture from Waxer, the few milling clones inside quickly shuffled out.

Waxer pulled off his helmet, eyes wide and sad.

“Cody-” he said hesitantly. “I’m not going to pretend that I completely understand what’s going on, but I’m here for you, whatever you need, if you ever want to talk. I never even told Boil about the- the trip to the temple, or any of it, ok? But I’m really worried about you and I want you to know that you can trust me- even if you just need a shoulder to lean on.”

The ringing in Cody’s head got louder.  A beat passed.

“Is that all?” Cody finally asked. “I have work to do.”

“...yeah, that was all.”

Cody made for the door but was stopped by a frantic cry.

“I’m Sorry!” Waxer half-shouted. “I’m sorry- you told us something was wrong and we just laughed and I’m so sorry Commander. And then when you started getting weird and the General wasn’t answering comms I just assumed things were good, but then we found he was sick and I was making jokes about bedrest while he was in sickbay- and then I was remembering the surveillance you put on the Cantina and I made jokes about that at the time but I was right next to him at the bar while you over at the table and now I can stop thinking that he got poisoned while I was right next to him at the bar. And then General Skywalker stepped down from Command this morning and I don’t even want to imagine what would make him do that. And I don’t know what the kark all that was with Krell but I’m so sorry Commander- I feel like everything I say is making things worse but I- I’m sorry.”

It took a while for Cody’s sluggish mind to process all that. He stared blankly at Waxer as he quivered at attention.

“Waxer...” The ringing had stopped, and was now replaced with a growing headache. “None of the General’s injuries or anything are your fault, ok? I- its classified and I don’t- I don’t know what happened this morning but...nothing actually happened in the Cantina. You have to keep this secret- but...” Cody hesitated over how much to say.

His voice dropped to a low whisper. “Practically the only thing I do know for sure is that he wasn’t poisoned. It was just regular alcohol and at most it made him slightly vulnerable... Anyway nothing was your fault so just- focus on the mission. Ok?”

Waxer stared at Cody. He cleared his throat. “You said Injuries.”

“What?” No I- what are you talking about?” Cody asked weakly.

“Commander. You said injuries. Not illness. Are you telling me that the General was attacked?” Waxer asked, voice growing quiet and angry. “Are you telling me that the General was attacked and High Command lied to us about it?”

Cody responded with similar hushed irritation, “No! Waxer- look. I can’t talk about this, it’s-”

“I swear to the force if you say classified I don’t care if you are my commanding officer I will slug you.” Waxer took in a shaky breath, clenching his fists. “Is this why you’ve been wearing your bucket? Because you can’t look your troopers in the face while you lie to us about a threat to the 212th?”

“That’s enough lieutenant- there are things you don’t know-”

“Yeah, because I’m being lied to- I’m supposed to be your lieutenant and even if you couldn’t tell me everything I at least trusted that you wouldn’t lie-”

“We didn’t lie- illness is the best description because even if we don’t understand what caused it, that’s what caused the injuries, and the troops needed to know this isn’t going to be fixed even once he’s technically out of the Bacta tank.”

“What the kriff kind of illness causes injuries you treat with a Bacta tank-”

“Fuck. Waxer, please. I can’t do this-”

Waxer stepped forward as Cody shifted back.

“Cody. Seriously. What kind of illness causes injuries you treat with a Bacta tank? That- that doesn’t even make sense.”

"It’s class-”

“What do you mean the alcohol made him ‘vulnerable’?”

“Lieutenant, I’ve got to back to work-”

Waxer grabbed his arm before he could pull away.

“Commander, was this an attack or not?”

“We- we don’t know. There’s Jedi bantha fodder involved...and, Waxer you can’t discuss this with anyone, I can’t-”

“What the kriff do you mean you don’t know- how could it not be clear if his injuries were caused by an attack or an illness?”

Cody yanked his arm away and shoved Waxer back with his shoulder. The lieutenant quickly regained his balance and charged forward, tackling the commander to the ground, helmet make a hard thud as it made contact with the duracrete floor. They rolled around, each trying to gain leverage over the other.

 Cody managed to get on top, knee driving harshly into Waxer’s back, pinning him down. After that, it only took a few more seconds to twist one of Waxer’s arm behind his back.

“Fine!” Cody sneered, pressing hard on his Lieutenant’s neck with one hand while yanking the trapped arm painfully. “You really want to know?!”

“Obviously, asshole” Waxer grit out.

“The general tried to karking kill himself and we have no idea why.”

“no-”

“Or rather we have too many ideas why. Did you know Jedi can take psychic damage from being around too many violent thoughts? Or that the General got abandoned in a fucking planetary civil war when he was a cadet?”

“that-”

Of course, he could have just had a vision that melted his brain and actually he wanted to wake up by killing himself. And if that’s true than it means he vividly remembers the nightmare shit from the hovercar ride. Remember that stuff? Temple burning? Us firing at him while mind controlled? Yeah, could be he just thinks that’s more real than reality, and he’s never going to be able to move on from stuff we didn’t even do. And he might never believe anything we say or do is real ever again.”

“I-”

“Of course, it could be some sort of crazy dark forbidden Jedi attack from Dooku or Ventress because they’re still running around despite all the times we’ve almost captured them, and if it is that then there’s not a karking thing we can do to defend him!”

“Cody, please-”

Cody breathed heavily for a second, staring uncomprehendingly at the trooper pinned beneath him. After a moment, everything clicked into place and he scrambled back, stopping when his back hit a sealed munitions rack. Waxer gasped for breath.

“Fuck- Waxer, I am so sorry, that was, kriff, you shouldn’t have found out that way- I shouldn’t have told you like that, I’m so sorry. I- are you ok?

"Oh yes, I’m doing great,” Waxer wheezed. “How about you?”

“I’m fine.” Cody replied automatically, wincing immediately at the absurdity of the sentence.

“Wizard, so glad we had this conversation.” Waxer coughed, voice starting to get back to normal. 

The door clicked open and a trooper Cody didn’t recognize stepped in, looked between Cody, who was braced defensively with his knees up, and Waxer who was panting face down, a small distance away. He immediately stepped back into the hall, not saying a word, door clicking swiftly closed again, lock audibly activating. 

Waxer flopped over to lay on his back, head turned to the side to pin his Commander in place. 

“...Thanks for telling me, Cody.” Waxer said quietly.

Cody thunked his head back. “You wish you never asked, fuck off.”

Waxer sat up with a groan, “No...Cody you shouldn’t have to go through this by yourself.”

“...Rex knows. Not- not everything I just said. But the basics.” 

“Good.” Waxer crawled over to sit next to his Commander, sitting back heavily.

“...I’m sorry, Cody. If Boil ever- I’m just...really sorry.”

Cody dropped his head to his knees. “I can’t let myself feel like that, Waxer,” he rasped. “I was already hanging by a thread and then- I thought he was there at the meeting for a second, and I- the men need me, I can’t focus on stuff that’s going to make me go nuts.”

“Um... you mean you thought he was there, when the Jedi were ‘sensing’ him?” the lieutenant asked tentatively.

“...yeah,” Cody sighed.

“That sounds like force stuff.”

Cody hummed in response.

Waxer took a deep breath. “Did- did it seem like he died?”

“I don’t...know,” Cody answered softly. “He- was there. And then he wasn’t.”

There was a long pause before the Lieutenant spoke, deliberately cheerful.

“Well then, I bet he’s alive. He’s obviously not very good at dying.”

Cody choked on a harsh breath, coughing heavily enough that he finally yanked off his helmet to suck in air.

“For- for force sake, Waxer-”

“You said you couldn’t go nuts,” Waxer said, shoving him with his shoulder. “We’re soldiers, right? This is how we deal with horrific shit that no one should ever have to think about, let alone have to keep to himself for fear of demoralizing an entire army, eh?”

“Waxer...”

The trooper climbed to his feet with a groan, ignoring his commanding officer.

“Come on, let’s get those kriffing manifests completed for Master Krell. I’ll make sure you keep going. For our Vode.” He offered a hand down to Cody, who tentatively accepted it. Waxer yanked him to his feet, drawing his Commander in for a quick, crushing hug, before ducking down to pick up the discarded buckets.

They both pulled on their helmets, puffy eyes and swollen lips hidden neatly.

“For our Vode,” Cody repeated.

They unlocked the door, joining the throng, all company marching to the familiar rhythm of a quickly ticking deployment countdown.

Next (Part XX)

[brothers-all]

Aru'e Tio'r (Enemy Within)

Hey hey, I'm here early! I admit, I might have rushed this one a bit, so I hope it came out alright. I actually have a kind important question for all you readers: Do I keep Rex's history the one from Aliit ori'shy tal'din (Family is more than blood) and in turn Memory (Tome'tayl) OR do I create new history for Rex?

I'll hopefully have the answer by the time the next chapter rolls around. For those who are unfamiliar with Rex's old past with my stories and what to know more, I recommend you read Aliit ori'shy tal'din (Family is more than blood). [FanFic] [Ao3]  Okay, that'd be all for now...

Alrightly, off to the story! This one is shorter than the rest but I couldn't just cram stuff willy nilly in so.. Read, review and enjoy~

[Ch.1] [Ch.2] [Ch.3] [FanFic] [AO3] [Master-list]

Chapter 4

With the Umbaran Tanks out of the way, they were able to proceed through the gorge. Everyone was still alert as they passed the wreckage of the battle, the enormous machines towering over them, sparks flying out of damaged parts. The fire was still burning and the smoke made it hard to see properly. But then again, the whole planet has heightened their senses in such a situation. They even came across a pod which’s light still flickered, even if very weakly.

“That one still has some juice in it. Waste it!” Rex motioned to it, not wanting to take any sort of chance with these things.

“Sure,” Hardcase readied the rocket launcher and lined it up with the pod. They were finally paying the Umbarans back for everything they’ve done.

The pod cracked open, mist coming out of it, as an Umbaran staggered forward, collapsing to the ground soon after. But that was as far as he got, as he didn’t move a muscle.

“No juice left in him either,” the Captain added, watching the enemy and raising his blaster and firing. Not taking any chances.

Further on, they came across two Banshees, feeding on something. But even in the smoke and shadows, the familiar white armor stuck out.

“Hey!” Kix instantly yelled, already blasting the creatures and scaring them. “You hungry? Chew on that!” the medic blasted one of them into the ground. Damned beasts! Like it wasn’t bad enough his brothers died on this shitball of a planet, they were being turned into munch for these things. The other one managed to fly away, but Rex calmly filled it with blaster fire, the others watching. They’ve kept their sorrow for the deaths of their brothers hidden, but the medics are slowly starting to crack. It’s getting too much for them.

“Everyone, keep moving,” Rex forced himself to say, not wanting to dally around this graveyard. The less bodies they see, the better.

“Hey, Kix, leave it,” Jesse called after the man, seeing he was still glaring down the creature. They had to keep moving, or more of them are going to end up like that.

Kix hesitated only for a moment, before following the others. Keep focus, keep calm. Save those who are still alive. There’s no helping the dead now.

They passed another pod with flickering lights, but it was already cracked open, the mist spilling out and adding a certain creepy factor to it all. They came to a stop on a small hill, overlooking a shallow valley. Rex took up his macrobinoculars, scanning the area, as they all heard… something. The others waiting behind, shared quick glances, before the Captain laid his eyes on a spider like machine, a large cannon on its back aimed at… them!

“We’ve got a problem,” the blonde said, feeling his blood run cold as the giant tank started moving towards them. And then, the cannon released one of those energy balls they’ve seen coming from the ships.

“Back! Pull back now!” Rex had ordered, already moving away from the edge of the hill when the blast hit. And more followed after.

Many were taken out by the following attacks as the soldiers scattered, trying to get away or find cover behind something. They are not equipped to deal with another unknown enemy weapon here.

“General, we just lost six fighters!” Cody called from the command deck, turning towards the man who stood by the holo-table.

“Blast! Hasn’t General Krell captured the airbase already?” Kenobi asked, looking at the holo-map on the table.

“It doesn’t seem like it. Reinforcements are still coming!” the Commander answered back, but his shoulders tensed. He didn’t like that he 501st were taking so long to finish up this mission. And the fact Krell was leading them, did nothing to put him at ease. Almost every commanding clone has heard of the Besalisk and his ways of dealing with soldiers. For the most part, they’ve kept it away from the regular men, but that was before, when he was light-years away from anyone else.

“If Anakin were here, he’d have gotten that base much sooner,” Obi-Wan muttered, eyes scanning the map and the incoming enemies.

“Where did General Skywalker go anyway? I doubt he would have just abandoned his men,” Cody spoke up before he could fully process the words.

“He was called back by Chancellor Palpatine. That is all any of us were really told,” the Jedi sighed, running a hand over his face.

“But doesn’t that seem strange? Surely he knows we’re in the middle of-,” but the soldier didn’t get to finish.

“Enough Commander! We are not here to question orders and actions of others! We are here to take this planet!” Kenobi snapped, and he only realized it when he saw the shocked look of the brunette. “…Cody,” he tried to apologize, but the man turned his back to him, looking back into space.

“Another squad of fighters incoming,” was all the Commander said, his voice passive and slightly strained. The tension has only grown but the Force around him shivered. Obi-Wan watched him for a few moments, contemplating his words. The Force was seeping into him from all around, effecting him more than he’d care to admit. So, to calm down, he blocked himself off to its call and focused.

It is indeed strange that, of all the times, the Chancellor requests Anakin right now. And to not tell anyone what’s really going on? Could something really be going on? The Jedi had to put those thoughts in the back of his mind as the Negotiator shook due to the enemy attack.

From far away and way above, Krell was watching the soldiers, seeing them scatter and hide as the enemy devastated their formations and ranks.

“What are they doing?” a layer of anger was under his voice as he activated his com. link. “Captain! Continue your attack!” he ordered, unbelieving that they were doing this.

“Sir, we’re overpowered! We need reinforcements!” Rex called back, catching his breath and trying not to sound too desperate.

“The rest of the battalion is holding their infantry to the gorge Captain. They’re guarding it so your troops can break through to the airbase!” Krell didn’t sound too pleased or ready to help on the other side. One of those energy balls crashed near where he was hiding and forced him to roll to the other side.

“Sir! We can’t possibly-!” there was no way they could handle this. The previous Assault Tanks took most of what they had!

“You must stand your ground! Do you read me?! Captain?! Are you listening?! Do not pull back!” Pong screamed on the other side as Rex tried to steady his breathing. This can’t be happening. Krell wasn’t seriously saying- “That is an order!” and the link was cut off. His body felt numb and he actually forgot to breath there.

Good soldiers, follow orders. Good soldiers, follow or- He slammed his fist into the tree he was hiding behind, a silent scream escaping him. Just what else can go wrong here? What is he supposed to do? Duty to serve. Duty to the men.

He almost made his choice there, but realization hit him when a brother’s scream echoed in the background. If they retreat – go against orders – Krell will likely accuse them of treason, mutiny, disobedience and desertion. And since they’re disposable and expendable, there’s nothing they could even say in their defense. Anything anyone else would try to say on their behalf would be dismissed because they weren’t there. After the supposed trial, they’d all be either executed or decommissioned. The man stared at the dead body of a brother in front of him eyes wide and breathing labored. They’ve been at a constant battle for more than 24 hours, Fives was being a suicidal idiot ready to go against orders, Jesse was yelling at everyone from across the battle field, Hardcase was going into a battle headfirst, Kix was going mad as brothers died all around them, Dogma was following blindly- He snapped. It was all too much. He felt like time stopped for a few seconds there as only one thought flowed through his mind.

“Good soldiers… follow orders…”

“The platoons are in the formation you requested General,” Appo hesitated slightly before walking up to the Jedi. He was clearly still mad, but shouldn’t be so surprised that the men are trying to survive this battle. “Should I send them to support Captain Rex?” they clearly needed the help, but would Krell oblige?

“I will give the order when I give it, Sergeant Appo,” the General said, annoyance still lacing his tone. Though the soldier wasn’t sure what he was more surprised about – the tone, the ignoring of help or the fact he used his name. Krell must be really distracted if he’s referring to their names now…

On the ground, the men were being decimated. The new spider cannons were firing an articulated electromagnetic plasma blasts of energy which vaporized anyone they hit. There was hardly even time for them to scream before they were nothing more than glowing dust on the ground. The energy tore through the troops as the only way to avoid it, was to hide where the Umbarans couldn’t see them.

“Keep the wounded as quiet as possible,” Rex ordered as some of them managed to gather behind rocks and trees. The wounded they managed to bring there were out of commission for now, but the medics could get them back in shape. Hopefully. For now, they just needed a plan on how to handle this.

“Alright, you heard the General, let’s go,” the Captain added, looking at the men.

“You can’t be serious?” Jesse turned back to face him, shock in his voice. Did he hear that right?

“I used to think General Krell was reckless, but now I’m beginning to think he just hates clones!” Fives spoke up, turning to the blonde. This was getting too much.

“The Captain is right! Now let’s move out!” Dogma supported it, not wanting to hear the others complain anymore.

Rex was about to move out, when Fives stopped him, putting his arm on his shoulder and pushing him back. “We can’t take them head on. We need to find another way.”

“You got any ideas?” the older man tapped him on the shoulder back, almost scolding him. The only answer he got, was a shake of the head from the ARC. “Then this is it.”

The Captain ran past them as they watched him leave, and Hardcase swallowed, nodding his head before speaking: “Okay, let’s do it!”

Dogma ran after him, and Fives lingered a second longer, glancing at the wounded. If they go out there, they’ll end up in a worse situation than they are! But he didn’t have a choice in the matter. However, he felt like something was wrong with the Captain. The movement, the tone… it seemed off.

As they readied themselves and the rocket launchers, the spider tanks came closer and close. When they were finally able to fire at them however, they saw it did little else than stun the machine. It fired back, the blasts strong enough to shake the ground and edge loos a large chunk of the caterpillar tank.

Fives stood under the hunk of metal as it fell, letting out a yelp as he barely evaded getting crushed. The rest were already moving away from the current position, seeing it was compromised and the enemy was closing in.

They zig-zagged across the field, trying to avoid enemy fire as the tank followed them, keeping a light pinned on their location. From above, another rocket was fired and it bought them enough time to get away, but the one who fired it, got shot down.

“Rocket launchers don’t work on these things!” Hardcase said quickly as they rallied in a small crevice, while another group got caught by the tanks. They tried to find cover under a hunk of metal, but the tank simply stepped on it and crushed most of them. Kix was already running there when he spotted one reaching out, and felt his heart speeding up. So many dying so quickly. And he’s powerless to help them.

“Help me with the wounded!” he called out, arms shaking as he pulled the man to safety. He can’t do it alone. He can’t. And there were Banshees flying around now, already going towards the unmoving bodies.

“We gotto get these guys out of here,” the medic swallowed, looking away because he needs to focus on those he can save. Rex moved closer, helping pull the poor fella to safety.

Kix was already trying to get back out there, where Fives was providing cover fire, when he felt a hand grip his shoulder. “Forget it. We have to leave them,” Rex said, sounding more monotone than he’s ever heard him.

“We can’t just leave them sir!” the medic shook off the arm, turning and pointing at the men still outside.

“We don’t have a choice! That’s an order!” the Captain clearly didn’t want to hear any more of it and walked away. Kix stood there, in disbelieve. This isn’t Rex. No way. He’d never just abandon his brothers like this!

“You sound like General Krell,” Kix didn’t even think before speaking. A low blow, but at the moment, fitting. The pause Rex made, proved his point.

For the blonde, everything froze for a second. The sounds became background noise and he thought the world was spinning there. Good soldiers, follow- No! No, that wasn’t what they needed right now! They didn’t need good soldiers – they needed smart soldiers. And they needed a plan. He swallowed, closing his eyes, and focusing for a second. Everything seemed… calm. The fighting wasn’t near, the screams weren’t around, the fatigue and exhaustion were in his head… Thinking about what he’s recently done, he saw Kix was right. He has been sounding like Krell. Like something Krell wound want him to. All of this was finally getting to him, and he snapped to the only familiar thing around. Following orders. But that only made things worse…

“Look Kix,” Rex sounded tense, but that was better than his empty tone before. “It’s more important you save yourself right now. If we survive we can patch up the wounded later,” he hated how unsure and distant he sounded, but he had to steady himself first. Calm and cool.

“We’re… We’re finished,” Tup let out a breath, shaking his head as the Captain used his macrobinoculars to check in on the base.

“We’ve still got some fight left in us, Tup. And I’ve got an idea…” Rex said, the fog of his mind finally lifting and he could focus again.

“What were you thinking?” Fives immediately took notice of the change of tone. It sounded sure, confidant and almost amused. That was the Rex they knew. And that’s the Rex who would get them out of this alive.

“Remember what you were saying about finding another way to destroy those tanks?” the Captain was still looking through the macrobinoculars as he spoke.

“Yeah?” the ARC was slightly anxious of what might come, but honestly, he knew Rex had something good up his sleeve.

“Well, I have a mission for you,” the Captain allowed himself a small grin under his bucket as he tilted his head to the ARC.

“But General Krell gave us orders-!” Dogma tried to speak, but the blonde cut him off.

“We won’t be going against orders, Dogma. We’re just going to…” the man paused, looking for the right word. “Go around them. Slightly.”

The older soldiers shared a quick look, each one smiling under their bucket. Yeah, that was good old Rex. Feels good having him back to his normal self.

Krell continued to watch the platoon, but he saw a decrease in clone activity. The spider tanks were still walking around, but the number of flickers in the Force was not dropping. He narrowed his eyes, a frown on his face.

“What are they up to…?” he asked himself, as Appo used the macrobinoculars to get a better look at the situation.

“They must be coming up with a plan,” the Sergeant spoke up, barely keeping the relief and hope out of his voice.

That however, didn’t sit well with Pong. He closed his eyes and focused, using the Force to scour the ground. He sensed the dying, the dead, the Umbarans… sensed the fear, the anxiety, the hate. And then he felt a strong flicker – one he came across before, but was very weak. The Captain has regained himself… And with his strength, others began to grow stronger as well. There was a small group of them, confidante and… humored? Amused. This is not what he expected to happen.

“CT – 7567, where are you?” the General decided to call, as Appo held the holo-communicator and they saw a crouching blue form of the Captain.

“General Krell. We’ve come up with a plan to infiltrate the airbase,” Rex said back, really not wanting to, but they had to tell the Besalisk what they were doing.

“What is your plan?” Pong asked, sounding either curios, worried or dismissive. It was hard to tell by that point.

“I’ve dispatched two men on a stealth incursion into the airbase. They’ve been ordered to co-op star fighters and use them against the tanks,” he explained in short, wondering what kind of reaction the Jedi would gave this time.

“You what?!” and that’s a predictable reaction right there. “You put this entire assault on your hope that two clones can do what your entire group could not?!” the General clearly didn’t like the idea, but he was getting unnecessarily upset about it.

“Sir, the rocket launchers don’t work on these tanks. And it’ll be easier to slip by undetected while the rest of us keep the tanks occupied,” the Captain tried to explain, because this was their best shot at winning this fight.

“Captain! You will launch a full-frontal assault immediately! Or you will be relieved of duty!” Krell nearly screamed at him and the link ended soon after. Rex looked at it for a few seconds, letting out a silent breath. There it was. The one real thing Krell can do to them – decommission. If they look at it technically, they really are disobeying but any normal and rational General will see what they’re doing is a good thing. But Krell isn’t normal or rational… They need to be careful, because of this doesn’t work, either the Umbarans will kill them, or Krell will. He wasn’t sure which one was worse. But he’s fully prepared to take the consequences if it saves the lives of the others.

“We need to hold on as long as we can. I’m trusting Fives and Hardcase to pull this off,” the Captain spoke up, repressing a shiver.

“You really think they can do it?” Kix asked, kneeling next to Biggs and giving him an injection.

“Yeah, why send Hardcase? I think I would have been a better choice,” Jesse sounded more worried than anything else, looking down at the resting wounded.

“They’re more likely to blow themselves up than anything else…” Dogma grumbled, looking over the corner to check the perimeter.

“…They work together very well. Like an old duo I knew, only this time, the roles are switched,” Rex said, head hung. It’s impressive, how much Fives took up from Echo…

“They’re also both likely to get themselves killed trying to fight the enemy than steal one of those fighters,” Jesse added, glancing between the others.

“I’m hoping that trait is what keeps them both alive. If one jumps the gun, the other might pull him back. They’re already good friends.”

In that moment, Jesse wondered how much the blonde really knew. He couldn’t know that he told Fives about their other two members. Or the brotherly squabbles the two of them got into. So how…

“We should move. Not a good idea to stay in one place for too long.”

He was enraged. The audacity of the clone, to do as he pleases and ignore his orders. He wondered if CT – 7567 took his words seriously, because he should. When all of this is over, if any of these clones are still alive, he’ll make sure they get what they deserve. They are nothing more than drones, programmed and to be used. And if they are not useful, they must be eliminated.

Watching the battle from above, he saw it again… The betrayal. The death. The fighting. These meatbags turning and blasting the other Jedi in the backs. Everything, taken away in one fell swoop. And all because of these lab rats! But he won’t let it happen. He’ll destroy the cancer before it takes hold. And when the dust settles, he’ll stand above the ashes, knowing the Force guided him down this path.