#juzuwrites

[aurathebardwife]

It's a strange order, thinks Fox. Unusual more likely but orders are orders. It's not strange for Fox to trek through the Senate to the High Chancellor's office. It's also not strange to do so accompanied by Thorn or Thire, on occasion even both. But the loud march of footsteps behind him, that is strange. But orders are orders, so they follow whatever is told.

Fox announces their presence at the office and permission is given quickly.

"Remember what I told you and don't stay behind. I want all of you inside," he says to his men. He doesn't have to wait for confirmation, he knows his men follow him to the depths of this planet if they have to, and opens the door.

"Ah commander, I need..." Chancellor Palpatine starts but he falls silent quickly. Fox walks in first, followed by Thorn and Thire, and takes place next to the Chancellor's chair instead of in front of the desk. That spot is for others. More and more of his men enter the office. "Commander, are you sure... Look, I know I said... Hmm..." The Chancellor isn't sure what to say when he is slowly surrounded by the Coruscant Guard. They take place in front of his desk and filter around it, beside him and even behind him, until the Chancellor has nowhere to go. "Commander, what is the meaning of this?!"

"You asked for 60 of us, sir. I decided it would be best if all of us came this time, so you could see for yourself if this is enough," Fox answers. His men followed his order and all came into the office. He likes the nervous look on Palpatine's face, too bad there will be no recordings of that. Nothing ever gets recorded in this office...

"I know I did but this is excessive, commander!"

"What's the plan, sir?"

Fox enjoys the defeated sigh even more, how he wishes he could have that.

"Fine. I need you to," the Chancellor starts speaking and Fox should listen but he is distracted by the tense atmosphere. Nearly all of these troopers have never been in this office and it shows. His men are nervous. While it is not visible to the untrained eye, Fox can see it in their seemingly perfect parade rest, the slight sway, a tight fist, a nearly invisible shuffle of feet. Aside from that he picks up something else, his men are chatting over a private channel! He cannot listen in, but his HUD shows it. These plebs, that's not how to ac—

The first swish and stab come out of nowhere. Suddenly there's blood and the Chancellor bends over, clutching his stomach. Fox blinks at it, then at his men but no one seems out of place but also, no one helps.

"Commander! Argh! I need—" the Chancellor starts but Fox understands the plan. He nods and pulls out his own combat knife, shiny and rarely used.

"Whoever came up with this and didn't inform me, will get fresher duty for a month," he says and steps forward with the knife raised. The rush of stabbing his superior is great, the shout of his men following suit even greater. Not all of them do, some turn around to shield them from the door, others take the used knives and hide them in their pack, others start to clean armour. Blood flows and Palpatine screams. A well oiled machine and a perfectly executed plan.

The aftermath is even stranger than the plan. No punishment has been given after the Jedi found out that Palpatine was a sith. Instead the guard is congratulated for their quick thinking and a medal ceremony is held.

"Still wearing that chest candy, Fox?" Thorn asks him, as if he isn't wearing it as well.

"What can I say, it's not every day I get rewarded for killing my superior. Even if it has been a year now.'"

"And it's not every day a GAR wide holiday is celebrated. Where to Fox?"

"To the other Commanders at 79's." Fox can't stop himself and wraps his arm around Thire's neck with a grin. "To the death of an asshole!"

[aurathebardwife]

Happy birthday @highgroundanimations !!!

Happy 241st day to you! To celebrate I wrote you a lil something, I hope you enjoy it!

Decantation day

Unlike natborns, clones don’t celebrate the day they are born. Mainly because clones aren’t born, they are decanted, an occasion the Kaminoans don’t see as special and in turns neither do the clones. Most clones don’t even know their decantation day, they just don’t care. Checklist is one of those clones. He doesn’t care, he doesn’t see why he should care, he doesn't even know what day it is. He thought everyone on base thought the same way, Captain Tukk, Roy, and everyone else.

Captain Tukk isn’t known to sulk around. He is the one man who always has a positive outlook on everything, no matter what happens, from huge attacks to the smallest missteps. So to find the Captain at his desk poking at his datapad with a sigh and a pout is a new sight to Checklist. He has no clue how long Tukk has been sitting there but he has been waiting for a reply for some time, so it has to be a while. Checklist sighs through his nose. All he needs is for Tukk to sign off his work so he can get started on the next assignment but he already knows he will get dragged into something much more time consuming. 

“Sir?” he tries again.

“Hmmm…” Tukk replies absentmindedly. 

“Sir, I need…” Checklist starts but Tukk sighs again. “Sir?” He places a gentle hand on Tukk’s datapad to catch his attention. “Are you alright?”

“Hmm?” Finally Tukk looks up at him. “Oh Checklist. Hey, sorry I was lost in thought. Can I help you?” This is the moment Checklist can ignore the Captain’s weird behaviour and get on with his work. But the pout is still on his face and Checklist knows he can’t let it go even if he walks away now.

“I can ask you the same. Why are you sighing so much, sir?”

“Oh… It’s nothing, something stupid. Do you need me to sign off again?” Tukk reaches out for the datapad in Checklist's hand but Checklist pulls it out of reach quickly.

“It can’t be nothing if it pulled the smile off your face. Please, sir, humour me.”

“Alright.” Tukk sighs again and looks away from Checklist. “A local woman, Elvira, invited me to a party yesterday. Apparently natborns celebrate the day they are born with elaborate parties. And…” Tukk falls silent but Checklist keeps staring at him until he talks again. “It’s stupid, Checklist, ignore me.”

“Sir, please. Talk to me.” 

“Is it weird that I want a party too? I checked my file, and today is my decanting day on Kamino. But clones don’t have parties for that right?" Tukk gets this hopeful look in his eyes for just a moment until Checklist starts talking. 

“Not that I know of, sir," Checklist answers honestly. Tukk's pout continues with another sigh. 

“I thought so. Like I said, it’s stupid. Forget I said anything. What do you need me to sign?” Checklist hands Tukk the datapad and leaves, ready for his next assignment. But he doesn’t walk to it straight away. Instead he lingers near Tukk’s office and looks back at the closed door. He doesn’t care much for a party to celebrate his creation, he still doesn’t care. But Tukk does and the sad expression of the Captain bothers him. Clones never have parties for days like this but maybe Captain Tukk can be the exception?

"So you spend time away from your work, to comfort Tukk and now you can't let the whole party thing go?" Roy asks when Checklist approaches him with the issue at hand.

"Correct. I don't understand why he wants a party but it's hard to see him pout," Checklist says. "It feels weird to say this about the Captain, but I want to cheer him up." Roy crosses his arms with a shrug. 

"Captain or not, he's still a vod I don't like to see sad," he says and rubs his chin. "But how do we cheer him up?" There's only one way Checklist can think of. 

"We could throw him a party?" he suggests. 

"What?" 

"I don't see why not. I already looked at the holonet for information and made a list of things most of these birthday parties have."

"Let me see." Checklist opens the list on his datapad and shows it to Roy. "Decorations, food, music, a candle? Why a candle?" 

"No clue. But according to Spuzzfeed, it is a necessary part of the celebration methodes on Coruscant," Checklist explains while showing the results of his search. 

"Strange. Alright, let's throw this party. Gather what we need on base and meet me here. I'll try to find whatever food Tukk likes and get some guys to get him out of his office."

"Yes sir!" 

The list of things needed isn't long, but Checklist has some trouble finding everything on base. The music is off the list immediately, he doesn't like whatever the GAR broadcasts and decorations aren't anywhere on base. He finds substitutes for that, hopefully it's good enough. The candle is the only easy part, he finds one in an emergency kit. Everything is stored safely into a crate and dragged towards Tukk's office. 

"Stay out of sight," Roy orders and signals to a few other guys. After a quick nod they disappear. 

A few seconds later, Tukk runs out of his office in a panic. 

"DON'T EAT THAT JUMPBOOST!" he shouts as he runs away. 

"Oh, that will keep him busy," Checklist comments, knowing the tendency of his batchmate to put whatever he can find in his mouth, with varying results. 

"He's the best distraction we have," Roy says and opens the office door. "Come on." 

Checklist quickly hides behind the desk when Roy is warned about Tukk's return. A dark room, followed by the shouting of surprise is on his list and has to be checked off. Roy turns off the lights and they wait. After a short while, the door slides open. 

"I should chain Jumpboost to a medic," Tukk mutters to himself when he walks into the office. He turns on the lights. "What…" Tukk looks around his office. 

"Surprise!" Checklist shouts and jumps up from behind the desk. Roy steps out from beside the door and waves his hands. 

"Surprise," he says with a monotone voice In a way only Roy can. 

"Check! Roy. What is all this?" Tukk asks. He gestures at the homemade decorations with scrap fabric tied to strings as flags and old ship schematics cut up to form streamers. On the desk are a few small sweet snacks, drinks and a small cake Roy got someone to get in the town nearby, decorated with a single candle. 

"It's a decantation party, si— Tukk," Checklist says. "You wanted one so badly that we put one together."

"We couldn't let you suffer like that," Roy adds. 

"Guys…" Tukk smiles at them both before walking to his desk. "Thank you." 

"Don't mention it. You would do the same for us, if you had the chance," Roy says. 

"It is a tradition with most natborn celebrations to blow out a candle on a cake. I can't tell you why but it's what I found. So…" Checklist lights the candle on the cake. "Go ahead." Tukk looks at Checklist, the happy glint in his eye finally back. Checklist didn't know he missed it so much. 

"I can think of a reason why," Tukk says, "it symbolises how we as soldiers extinguish the destruction of the separatists." 

"I don't think— ugh!" Checklist starts but Roy shuts him up with a kick. 

"Sure thing, Tukk. Give them hell." Tukk leans forward and blows out the candle. 

"To another year of kicking droid ass!" he shouts and wraps his arms around his men's shoulders. "Thanks again."

"Happy decantation day, Tukk," Checklist says with a bright smile. He's far behind his assignments but seeing Tukk laugh like that makes it all worth it. "To another year." 

[aurathebardwife]

Happy Tukk Tuesday!

And a thank you to my friend Jan, or better known as @highgroundanimations , for making this piece for me. You swooped in at a difficult time to lift my spirits, right in time for the birthday of my droid 99.

As a little thank you, I wrote him this.

I am not cute!

From where 99 is sitting he can see that new clone Captain. The one who actually takes care of his hair unlike Hunter and has weird blue eyes. He also has a stupid pretty smile, or at least, that’s what he heard his maker say to Crosshair. 99 doesn’t see it though. He just has a smile like any other clone. He needs to get a closer look though and turns his head a little more to see him better.

“99, sit still. I am working in your chest with a screwdriver. I don’t want to rewire you because you also have a crush on Tukk,” his maker says and boops him on the head with said screwdriver. The small droid beeps loudly and shakes his head.

“I do not have a crush on a dumb clone! How dare you say that to me!” he says annoyed. His maker shakes his head with a laugh, as does Crosshair beside him.

“I don’t know, 99. You are staring intently at him. Am I seeing hearts in your eyes?” Crosshair asks and leans down to inspect him.

“No! Go away! I do not like that clone!” 99 says and tries to push Crosshair away. It’s not like a small droid like 99 could actually physically push a clone like Crosshair away but he lets himself get pushed back regardless.

“We’re just kidding 99. But what’s your obsession with Tukk?”

“He’s different and maker keeps staring at him instead of fixing me!”

“Oh sheesh sorry. I didn’t know I was staring that much. He's just so… pretty.” His maker sighs and lets his eyes wander to Tukk again. Both Crosshair and 99 groan at this.

“Playboy, I know you are easily distracted by anyone prettier than Rex but I want my droid back. Hurry it up, okay?”

“Yes, yes. I’ll get to it.”

The regular maintenance goes by quickly which is good. 99 cannot sit still for it, even though he has to. He is glad when his maker goes over the final points and he can move again. He should be shut down for things like this but Crosshair isn’t a fan of that, so he has to go through it all. While his maker checks a final joint, Captain Tukk and his men walk by.

“Wait…” Captain Tukk stops and takes a few steps backwards. “Is that a clanker? How did you find one this small?” His maker laughs and turns to him.

“I didn’t. I made him. This is B1-99, a member of Clone Force 99. He specialises in infiltration, hacking and being a general menace. He is supposed to be extra support in emergencies but he got a little out of hand. Now the GAR has a clanker on their payroll.”

“Roger roger!” 99 salutes the best he can and Tukk salutes back. The men around him salute too and all seem impressed. 99 loves all the compliments and puffs his chest out proudly.

“Good to know the GAR is supported by such a cute droid. Maybe I’ll see you in action some day,” Tukk says. He waves at them and he leaves with his men. 99 stands there frozen. Cute? CUTE?! He isn’t cute! He is a dangerous tool made to disrupt Separatist forces, not some cute toy! He stomps his foot in anger. He will show that Captain cute!

“Aw…” He snaps his head over to the sound and sees his maker with that stupid smitten smile on his face and Crosshair coughing behind his hand to hide a smile too.

“Shut up! I am not cute!!” the droid shouts and stomps his foot again.

99 spends the rest of his day irritated at his usual perch on Crosshair’s shoulder. Every once in a while he rambles on about not being cute and the rest of the day he is silently fuming, sitting there with his arms crossed and hissing at everyone who talks to him. Crosshair lets him, it’s better for the droid to get it out of his system than to try to change his mood.

“Cute… I am not cute…” 99 hisses again to a Crosshair who rolls his eyes.

“Of course not, 99. You’re a ferocious beast, ready to strike. I don’t understand how Tukk didn’t see that.”

“Exactly! I am a soldier too.” Crosshair’s sarcasm goes right over 99’s head and he even feels proud at himself for being as good as he is. He will show Captain Tukk what he is capable of!

The batch takes a moment to breathe and chat with each other outside of base. Crosshair sits on a ledge with 99 still on his shoulder, still fuming about earlier today and glancing at Tukk and his men a few paces away. There has to be a way for revenge but the droid doesn’t know how without making Tukk an enemy. He just wants to tease him, that’s all. Tukk takes his helmet off and shakes his stupid hair but something else catches 99’s attention. On the helmet sits a red feather, Tukk strokes it before putting the helmet under his arm. If he could take that for a few minutes, he could show Tukk what he is made of.

99 sits tight and waits for the perfect window of opportunity. Once Tukk sets his helmet down, he slides down Crosshair’s arm to the ledge and stalks towards the helmet. He waits a moment longer until Tukk turns his back then he strikes. He sneaks over, keeping low and hiding behind some weapons and other debris on the ledge until he is pressed against Tukk’s helmet, just out of sight. He glances back towards the rest of the batch. Hunter looks like he wants to speak up and 99 quickly signals him to keep quiet. Crosshair is on his side and shushes Hunter. They whisper to each other and Hunter reluctantly nods at the droid. It’s good to know his batch stands behind him. 99 looks up again. Tukk is still distracted by his conversation. The droid takes his chance and grabs the feather out of the helmet and runs for it, past his batch. He salutes Hunter’s facepalm and Crosshair’s grin. Again he is proud of himself, he will give Tukk a nice run for calling him cute.

“Eh.. Captain? That droid ran off with your feather?!”

“Hey! Get back here!!” Running footsteps follow 99 and he laughs. He quickly turns the corner on the ledge and he hears Tukk slide to a stop because he missed the corner. The clone catches up with him soon though. “Stop! Hey!!”

“Oh is this yours? Sorry!” he shouts. He looks over his shoulder and holds up the feather. “Come and get it, Captain!” With another laugh he looks forward again and picks up the pace. There has to be a way to extend this game, if he keeps running Tukk will catch him before he is exhausted. But there is something 99 has over Tukk and that is size. There is a spare engine placed right beside the ledge just up ahead. 99 quickly scans it and finds the perfect spot. Tukk comes closer and the sensitive droid sensors pick up the heat of his hand. 99 grinds to a halt and Tukk overshoots him, stumbling forward to stop himself as well. The Captain looks back and watches with wide eyes as 99 salutes him and slips in between the parts of the engine and out of sight.

“Get back here!” 99 hears Tukk run towards him but there is no way he can grab him from here. He carefully crawls through the open spaces there are until he is almost at ground level, taking care of the feather and making sure it stays clean. From outside he hears Tukk call over others and shout his name to the great pleasure of the droid. He carefully walks under the engine, making sure to stay out of sight. He has to find a different hiding spot, he can’t stay here forever. He scans the immediate area and quickly finds a new way of escape. It is a bit away but if he books it, he might make it.

99 doesn’t wait around long and crawls out of his hiding spot and runs as fast as he can towards the next one.

“There you are! Get back here!” Tukk shouts behind him and quickly closes the distance. His sensors pick up the clone and the droid doesn’t have to look behind him to know what’s happening. He stays on course and waits. Just as Tukk’s hand is about to close around him, he rolls to the side, dodging the hand entirely. Tukk stumbles over his feet again and this time he falls. 99 doesn’t wait to see if he is okay and runs towards his escape, a small pipe. Tukk recovers quickly and his on his feels but right as he is about to grab him, 99 disappears into the pipe. Tukk tries to grab him but his bulky armour stops him from doing so.

“No! Stop!” 99 is tempted to stop and taunt but decides against it. He can do so at a later time. So he keeps running, out of sight of Tukk.

99 stays within the vents until Crosshair comms him.

“He’s sulking in the messhall. You’ve done enough.” Fair enough. He picks some dust off the feather and fixes some of the strands to make sure it’s as neat as when he took it. Time to return what he stole.

With his size, it’s easy for 99 to sneak into any room, even while carrying a bright red feather. People don’t look at their feet as closely as they think. Even though the messhall is filled with clones, 99 can walk in and hide behind the legs of chairs or clones easily. Tukk isn’t hard to find, he sits by a table and pouts at his helmet.

“Aw. Poor clone,” 99 says to himself when Tukk strokes the place that held the feather. Time to return it. The droid quickly marches over to the table and carefully climbs up Tukk’s legs. The clone is too distracted to notice him, too busy feeling sorry for himself to see him coming.

“Come on, Captain. You’ll find a new feather. Stop pouting and try to eat something,” one of his men says. With another sigh, Tukk places the helmet beside him on the bench.

“Fine, Roy. But after that we need to find Clone Force 99 again. I don’t care that they can’t control that clanker, I want back what’s mine.” Roy shakes his head and pushes the tray in front of Tukk closer to him.

“Eat.”

99 waits a moment, until both Tukk and Roy are too busy with their food, then he places the feather back neatly where it belongs. He peeks over his shoulder to Tukk, who hasn’t seen a thing. Then he carefully lowers himself to the ground again and waits. It doesn’t take long for Tukk to gasp and pick up his helmet.

“What?” Roy asks.

“How? Wait when did my feather get back here?! I wasn’t there a few minutes ago!” 99 giggles to himself when Tukk looks around him and under the table to look for him. He is an expert at what he does, Tukk can only try to find him. He sneaks out the messhall feeling pleased.

99 returns safely to the batch and salutes them. While Crosshair gives him a proud smile, the others don’t look so happy.

“B1-99 reporting for duty!” Hunter raises an eyebrow at him.

“Did you get it out of your system?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good. Don’t do it again. I don’t want to get punished for your ego. Get back to Crosshair and stay here.” 99 doesn’t like Hunter’s disappointed tone and does what he is told. Wrecker and Tech don’t look at him either and the droid crosses his arms.

“I didn’t even do anything. He got his stuff back…”

“Tell that to Tukk himself,” Crosshair replies and nods to the Captain storming towards them.

“How did you do that?! How did I not notice you?! You’re carrying a bright red feather around!” Tukk asks, more than impressed. 99 hides his pride and shrugs.

“I am made to infiltrate bases. Sneaking up on a clone isn’t that hard,” he says. “Am I still just cute?” Tukk blinks at the droid.

“That’s what this is all about? Because I called you cute? And here I thought Roy was unreasonable…” he shakes his head and smiles tired. “Yes. I still think you’re cute.”

“Hey!” 99 is ready to jump up but Tukk isn’t done yet.

“But also skilled. Next time I want to see you in action when it isn’t against me, okay?” 99 sits back down and thinks about it for a moment.

“Roger roger. But don’t leave your helmet unattended next time.”

[aurathebardwife]

Last line challenge

Rules:

in a new post, show the last line you wrote (or the art you drew) and tag as many people as there are words (or as many as you feel like or just a few). 

So I got tagged by @gun-roswell

I haven't written in a while let alone posted in a while (I am terrible at finishing anything) but I know what I last worked on.

It's a story called "Ives²" about Fives and my clone OC Knives first meeting and the trouble they caused.

"Good. Glad we came to this understanding. You are free to leave." Three-Six doesn't have to say that twice, Knives helps Fives gather his armour and they sprint down the hall.

I don't have anyone to tag, so feel tagged if you want to be!

[aurathebardwife]

I suck at finishing stories. I have many fics waiting to be finished while I start something new.

So to help myself, I've made a list of all the fics I want to finish and numbered them all. Then I numbered them and let a d20 make the choice for me.

Today the die chose Ives².

Let's see how far I get!