#shaak ti x commander colt

[toska-writes]

Хорошего дня или ночи! Я так рад, что нашел ваш аккаунт с вашими фиками, они просто замечательные.

Если вы не возражаете, тогда у меня есть просьба. Читатель - падаван Шаак Ти, и вместе с ней она или он прибывает на Камино, проводит там несколько недель, и читатель знакомится с 99 (этого ребенка так не хватает). Вы можете сделать что-то приятное и удобное. Вы также можете добавить маму!Шаак (я знаю, что вы пишете только с помощью клонов, но сделайте исключение, пожалуйста) и Кольт.

Заранее большое вам спасибо 😘❤️

I LOVE the idea of mom Shaak ti!

“Padawans”

Summary: Shaak Ti has found herself with the company of a new padawan, with the new feet you seem to meet some very nice clones

Pairing: The Kamino parents aka Colt and Shaak Ti x GN padawan reader

Warning: NOT PROF READ, but so so much fluff

Word count: 1528

Notes: I have had such a writing block recently and honestly that’s why there hasn’t been many updates! I apologize

The huge buildings were so daunting as the ship touched down with a thud, rain banged against all surfaces it would reach. The chorus of noises fell to the background as the ships door opened.

You were the only one that seemed to leave as you pulled your cloak around you tighter.

Chill winds nipped at any exposed skin while you traversed the slippery lading pad, the light died over the horizon line.

A figure stood etched out by the warms lights that flooded the facilities behind it. Other than the eerie appearance the silhouette only radiated a calming warm through the face.

A warmness you could use right now.

The torgruta was a lot taller than you expected. The sleek blue and white lekku reached far down her front as you came face to face for the first time with your new master.

Her eyes softened at your soggy appearance. “I’m master Shaak Ti, you must be my new padawan I’m assuming.”

She stepped to the side letting you in the dry building.

“I am.” You said with a renewed pep in your step following close to the side of your new master. “And I look forward to working with you.”

An arm draped around your shoulder and a gentle hand rub your arm trying to return some warmth back into your body.

A small smile traced your lips, your eyes returned excitedly up to your master.

With a chuckle returning your gaze she spoke. “And I with you, though I do wish these were easier times but there’s nothing we can do about it now.”

Growing deeper into the kaminoian facilities you watched as many clones passed, most seemed to be younger than the ones you’ve seen exiting the temple.

They all wore the same uniform and regulated haircut. Curious eyes stole glances as you continued to walk the halls. Every once in a while a simple wave was in order for the young clones, some gave timid waves back and others gave confused looks.

Master Ti’s cheeks warmed with the small gestures you gave to the younger clones. Her heart swelled slightly each time.

Some kaminoians stoped along the way either address master Ti with things you barely understood, or welcoming you to Kamino.

The kaminoians, despite their intentions spooked a young padawan like yourself.

Heavier boots echoed down the halls loudly approaching your position.

“Ah that must be Colt with a few cadets.” You didn’t have time to question Master Ti as a tall clone turned your way.

The daunting figure wore armor head to toe, a skull like pattern was painted on the helmet with the other colors being red and a pale blue.

This was the first clone you’ve properly seen and your back straightened at the sight of him.

The clones that followed behind, despite instruction, moved and tried to pear around one another too see the new person that was on their home planet.

When you see the same face everyday it’s good to something new.

“Commander Colt.” She said with a smile as the group stoped in front of you too. “I’d like to introduce you to my new padawan Y/N.”

You could feel the hard gaze of the Commander in front of you, with a sheepish smile you gave another small wave unsure of the formalities.

“Sir.” The clone nodded at you before he turned to the general. “You do know that your padawan is dripping all over the floor correct sir?”

A laugh rattled through the tall Torgruta, a hand landed on your shoulder. “We were just about to find a remedy for that Commander no need to worry.”

A few of the boys snickered at the exchange until the helmeted head shot around quickly making you smile slightly.

“Well sir if there’s time after I’m sure your jetti could show my boys a thing or too.” Colt looked between you and your master before you looked up at her yourself.

“If you want too my padawan you may.”

You pumped your fist into the air before saying. “I’d love to master.”

Master Ti wasn’t sold on the idea of a padawan on kamino learning from her but now she couldn’t figure out how she spent the days without the eyes on her.

“Until then Colt.” She nodded her head as her lekkus swayed.

“Goodbye Commander.” You bowed your head towards the clone the formality seemed right in this case.

His own arm raised from the stiff position at his side forming into a small wave of its own.

Weeks seemed to pass by in a flash, you followed Master Ti and learned many new skills from Colt along side a young upcoming group called the domino squad. They were definitely interesting to say the least.

It wasn’t until later into your time when your master instructed you too the mess hall, apparently there was someone you haven’t met yet and of course for a meal.

You scanned the room for anything that seemed out of the ordinary but only a few clones sat at the tables.

Your eyes focused on a figure slumped slightly over a far table in the corner. A broom and a bucket leaned against the wall. Two other clones seemed to be talking rather loud with the older one, until they spotted your quick pace over.

“Ah so you but be the new padawan.” The clone came into better view now. Wrinkles adorned his face and clearly he was much older than the others. He sighed was filled with relief as you stoped in front of him. “Would you like to sit down Y/N.”

“You know my name?” You asked taking the seat, the older clone seemed to relax slightly and leaned back against the wall along with his mop.

“Oh yes believe me I’ve heard much about you from the dominos.” He spoke with a slight laugh, his gravelly voice continued. “I’m 99.”

The old clone stuck a hand out which you hurriedly excepted with a smile.

“From what I hear you seem to be quite skilled with your training. I’m hoping you can teach those boys a few things.”

You laughed, it seemed like a grandpa talking about his rambunctious grandchildren with pride.

“They’re coming along-“ you started. “-gradually so.” This earned a laugh from 99.

The mess halls doors seemed to open wildly as younger groups of clones filtered in and many of the others off to other training.

The force felt lighter now with the rambunctious cadets and you could only smile. By the door a small group seemed to scan quickly before theirs eyes step on 99.

“Oh ho ho here they come.” Your attention turned back to the older clone with a smile on his face.

A group of 4 young looking clones bounded over. They couldn’t be much younger than you though from what you learned from your time on this planet was that that wasn’t the case.

They stoped wearily a few steps from the table, one with longer hair than what your use to seeing stepped foward slightly. “Made a new friend 99?” He asked cautiously.

“Boys this is Y/N, Master Ti’s padawan.” He gestured towards you.

One of the clones towards the back pushed foward, he seemed to be larger than the others but only had a goofy smile on his face.

“Woah your a Jedi?” He asked like a small child amazed.

You laughed before nodding slightly looking back towards 99. He pointed to each boy. “The one towards the front his Hunter, that’s Wrecker.” He pointed to the cadet right in front of you. “That’s Tech and Crosshair.”

One clone was lost in his datapad and the other seemed like he was trying to kill you with a glare. This group was an odd one before.

Lunch went better than most days. The cadets along with 99 seemed like perfect company for once during your meals. Many of the other clones were awkward or didn’t even talk.

At least a few of members of this squad seemed to enjoy it. One silver haired boy did not but hopefully that friendship will come with time.

You didn’t even notice the buzzing of your com link until the torgruta looked over the table.

“Ah so my padawan did take my instructions.” Master Ti’s airy words flew through the other conversations in the mess.

“Making some new friends dear?”

Your cheeks burned red as you stood to greet the master with a bow. “Umm yes Master, I guess I missed the start of training?” You looked up at her expectantly.

To say her face didn’t completely melt was an understatement, you had the Jedi wrapped around your finger. At least she new Colt felt the same.

“That’s quite all right my young padawan, why don’t you come find me after you and your friends conclude your meal.”

Without thinking you quickly shot forward and hugged the waist of the torgruta before saying. “I will, thank you master.”

“Of course my dear.” She spoke and then watched you return to your seat with an excited force signature around you. “Of course.”

_____________________________________

Taglist: @arctrooper69 @thereforepizza @padawancat97 @pb-jellybeans @floffytofu @verybadatwriting @solstraalaa @ray-rook @ct-0113

[roseaesynstylae]

Something about clones and nonhuman women just hits a very specific chord with me.

[wanderinginksplot]

Gar Cyare Chapter Eleven

The plot thickens in this chapter of my Alpha-17 x fem!reader fic!

Word Count: 5,100 words

Warnings: mentions of setups, minor (and decreasing) cosmic horror vibes, mentions of an amorphous external threat, bureaucratic rudeness.

Previous | Next | Masterlist

---

Aruetii (Traitor)

“I need your help.”

You wanted to scoff at Pender, wanted to curse and threaten him until he left you alone. Visions of your last time around him danced through your mind - pushed up against a wall, propositioned and ultimately punched in the face. Alpha had dealt with Pender swiftly and decisively enough that he hadn’t bothered you since, but it didn’t mean that you were going to eagerly leap to help him.

Still, something about the desperation on his face… it was unsettling, especially compared to the cocky, self-assured way he habitually carried himself. His eyes were pleading, looking for all the world like a child scared of the dark.

Alpha teased and admired your soft heart in turns, but you were cursing yourself for it as you sighed, returning to your seat. “What do you want, Pender?”

Pender straightened slightly, hope apparently bringing life back to him. He seemed too keyed up to take the other seat, though. Instead, he paced fitfully around the small room, only pausing to glance at you every few moments while you waited impatiently for him to give an explanation. 

“Commander Colt will be on his way back here soon,” you warned, pitching your voice low to keep from startling him out of a confessional sort of mood. 

Pender’s face tightened, but he shook his head. “I don’t- really know- I don’t know where to start.”

“Start with the most relevant information,” you suggested. “If I have questions, we can backtrack.”

He nodded, pulling a datapad from his pocket. With a few swipes of his finger, he located what he was looking for and passed the datapad to you. It appeared to be a credit transfer into his account. The transfer was for a large amount.

You glanced up at Pender. “What exactly am I looking at?”

“It’s my bank account,” he answered and you nodded instead of snarking at him - something you should have been awarded a medal for, honestly. “That’s not my salary. I haven’t done any outside jobs lately, either. Whoever requested that credit transfer, it wasn’t supposed to be for me.”

With a slow nod, you set the datapad down on the table. “And you don’t know who could have sent it?”

“My bank says the transfer was anonymous,” Pender told you, pacing more quickly. “When I pushed them, they said the details were so muddled and privacy protected that they couldn’t begin to decipher a starting account.”

You stared at the datapad screen for another moment. It really was a large amount of credits, but nothing in Pender’s explanation sounded sinister or threatening. And it certainly didn’t sound threatening enough to explain Pender’s near-panic about it. 

“It’s odd,” you conceded slowly, “but not the worst thing. I don’t see what you need my help with.”

“I know you’re investigating the bounty hunters with Shaak Ti and Colt,” Pender said. “And I have reason to believe you’re searching for someone who stole information.”

“Why do you think that?” you asked, nerves roiling in the pit of your stomach. Everyone in the investigation had been trained to keep secrets from a very young age… except you. Had you somehow destroyed the secrecy of the investigation?

Pender gave you an unimpressed look - the most natural expression he had worn since first approaching you. “I knew the General and Commander were looking for information about something, and my credits are on a security leak. It didn’t take much to realize that you haven’t been working on your report lately. When I did some digging, I found out that you’re on special assignment. The pieces fell into place.”

You lifted your chin. “If that were true, I wouldn’t be able to confirm any of it.”

“I don’t need you to confirm anything,” he snapped, the sharp tone in his voice making you flinch even as your hands automatically clenched into fists. “Just… just look.”

Pender’s voice broke on the last word and he slid the datapad back toward you. He had pulled up a screen that displayed details of the mysterious transaction. It was for the same amount, still without a name displayed in the ‘Sender’ section. In fact, the only new detail was visible in the small ‘Note’ section. Displayed in small, electronically produced letters, you could see the words, “In thanks for the useful advice.”

You tore your gaze away from the screen to stare at Pender, who looked distraught. “The useful advice? What useful advice?”

“I don’t know!” he said, running shaking fingers through his hair. “I was telling you the truth - I haven’t taken on any jobs outside of Kamino lately. No hunts, no consulting, nothing. I don’t know who sent these credits or why, but I know this is going to end up putting me in the middle of your investigation, and I need your help!”

“I-” You paused, sighing. “I’ll do my best, Pender. But I have to tell General Ti and Commander Colt about this.”

Pender’s eyes went wide. “No. Please don’t. Please.”

“If you want my help, you have to let me tell them,” you said, making your voice and face as firm as you could possibly manage. When he still seemed hesitant, you reminded him, “I’ve already been accused of being at fault for one planet-wide catastrophe. I have no interest in doing it a second time. Your choice.”

The door opened before he could say anything, admitting General Ti and Commander Colt. They both looked surprised, though the general covered it better. “Doni Pender, hello. What brings you here?”

As she spoke with Pender, Commander Colt took a seat beside you and rested a cup of caf on the table for you. As he did, he leaned in too close for Pender to overhear. “Are you okay?”

You nodded, touched that they had remembered your discomfort around Pender and had made sure to check with you before they did anything else. 

Pender, having finished with his conversation with Shaak Ti, glanced at you and sighed. “I agree. You can tell them.”

The curiosity on the general and commander’s faces soon turned to surprise and suspicion before changing to a professionalism that firmly masked anything else they may have been feeling. 

“It’s suspicious,” Commander Colt said, cutting Pender off with a sharp gesture before he could say more than two words in his own defense. “It’s suspicious that payment would have come through now with that kind of note attached. Seems too easy.”

“I agree,” General Ti said. “But we are honor-bound to report any findings to the Kaminoan authorities. We can argue your case-”

“Please, no,” Pender begged for the second time. “You don’t understand. They don’t like me. They would take any opportunity to get rid of me, but they’ll arrest me for this. I’m not- I’ve done some things wrong in my life, but I don’t deserve to spend the rest of it rotting in a Republic prison!”

“If we’re all wary of this transfer and what it means, maybe it would make sense to put off reporting the findings,” you suggested.

General Ti shook her head regretfully. “I must make my report every day. I can wait until the end of the day, but no later.”

“Then it’s settled,” Commander Colt summarized, looking at you. “You’ll look into Pender’s case while the General and I keep investigating. The Kaminoans won’t ask questions since the investigation is ongoing and if you need any additional information, we can help you get it.”

“Do you have enough access to get started?” General Ti asked.

You nodded. “I still have full security clearance. I should be able to get all the information I need.”

“And me?” Pender asked. “What can I do? I’ll help her with the background information…” 

Commander Colt cut in before you could say anything. “Pender, you need to do whatever it is that you’re scheduled to do today. If you deviate from your schedule, it’ll only create questions or make you look more guilty. Keep an ear out for your comlink in case she has questions for you.”

Pender nodded, repeating the motion too many times for it to look natural. “Of course, of course... Let me give you all my private comlink frequency- I don’t want to risk anyone accessing our conversations.”

After he had done exactly that, Pender rushed out of the room. Commander Colt gave you an apologetic look. “Sorry about that. Figured you wouldn’t want him following you around all day.”

You shrugged and General Ti said kindly, “It is for the best that he is elsewhere. You have much to do and a short span of time in which to complete it.”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough time. Not nearly. In fact, you were unpleasantly reminded of your early days on Kamino, always working desperately with no chance of success. 

Not that you weren’t making strides. No, by an hour after your (skipped) lunch, you had checked the records of every entry into Pender’s quarters for as long as the information had been leaked, as well as a month before. You had read reports from the other trainers, analyzing how they felt about Pender. Almost none of them cared for him, but you couldn’t find anything that tied them to direct action against him. 

You had accessed his datapad to double-check that it hadn’t been breached or that he hadn’t used it to leak information. If he had leaked the information, there was very little chance he would have started this whole side investigation, but you were determined to check everything you could. 

It was only an hour before General Ti’s deadline that you tossed aside your own datapad, heaving a sigh and thinking just how far outside your job description you currently were.

By all rights, you should let the general and commander tell the Kaminoans about Pender. He had been unpleasant to you until the exact moment that he had needed you to help him. It wouldn’t make your life any more difficult or worse to see him sent to prison for apparent treason against the Republic. In fact, it may make your life a little easier.

But you couldn’t do it. 

There was just something too… neat about the whole thing. It was too simple, too clean. Pender was widely disliked, even by the Kaminoans, as he had admitted. Who would make a better scapegoat than someone who had no friends to ask questions when they were accused of doing something terrible? 

No, you had to keep fighting for Pender. Not because you liked or even cared about the man himself, but because no one had reason to believe your innocence after the Separatist had invaded Kamino. You would have been the most convenient scapegoat, but Alpha had been staunchly in your corner. 

Alpha had been your champion. You had to be the same for someone else if you could.

---

Alpha was inside an asteroid.

There was no doubt about it now: the panel on the bottom floor of the mysterious abandoned ship led directly into the asteroid itself. It clearly wasn’t an asteroid at all, though. Alpha couldn’t claim to be an expert, but he was under the impression that most asteroids didn’t have countless levels of durasteel catwalks and blinking wall panels.

There had been a short debate about whether to use the ladder in the decompression chamber. Half of Omega Squad had argued that there was no way of knowing for certain if the ladder was safe or had been sabotaged somehow. The other half maintained that this section of the ship clearly hadn’t been meant to be seen, and the ladder wouldn’t have been sabotaged by someone who may need to use it again.

Alpha had ended the argument by dropping the ladder through the access hatch. When it stood, apparently not preparing to collapse, he climbed down it. The beam from the light mounted on the side of his helmet shone through the darkness. It wasn’t enough light, not even close, but it didn’t matter. As soon as he had gotten halfway down the ladder, automatic lights had switched on. 

Omega Squad had descended quietly behind him, but Alpha’s attention was fixed on studying his surroundings. He was on the uppermost durasteel catwalk, and when he peered over the side, more levels stretched down beneath him. There was a clear end, however. About five levels down, the catwalks ended, and a ladder stretched the rest of the way down to the floor… or, more accurately, to a durasteel sheet covering the entirety of the ‘floor’. 

Even from his place far above the floor, Alpha could see that there were access panels on it. Whatever was behind this barrier that divided the false asteroid nearly in half, it had been designed to be checked or maintained.

The access hatch had passed through a thick layer of durasteel. Clearly, the ‘asteroid’ was hollow, though clearly, someone had designed it to withstand observation and pass as something natural. The surface of the asteroid had been rocky when he crossed from Omega Squad’s ship to the abandoned one, though something had to have hit the scanner as metallic. 

Whether the thickness of the outer shell was part of the disguise or a way of protecting whatever was behind that barrier, Alpha couldn’t be sure. Either way, they soon discovered that it blocked every transmission except the ones in their inter-HUD comm channel.

“Spread out,” Alpha ordered. “Check everything. Until we know what’s behind that barrier, helmets stay on, breathable atmosphere or not. And stay on high alert. We don’t know whether someone knows we’re here. We didn’t exactly perform a stealth entrance.”

The group fanned out to study every level of the structure. The highest one, level five, held information about the asteroid and its structural integrity. The next down seemed to monitor patterns of nearby planetary bodies. The readings paid special attention to solar flares, meteor showers, and asteroids. 

Level three was the one that finally put an end to any light-heartedness Omega Squad had been showing. It was dedicated entirely to monitoring Republic and GAR transmissions… even on channels that were restricted or heavily encoded. 

Level two was fully unlabeled, which somehow managed to be even more sinister than everything else they had found up to that point. Niner was issuing orders before Alpha had the chance: “Atin, start slicing these panels, Figure out what this level is for. Fi, cover him. Darman, you’re with the captain and I. We’re going to check out the last level.”

Niner turned, glancing at Alpha as if to check whether he had additional orders. The sergeant seemed to have covered everything, so Alpha just gave a slight nod and went to level one. There was nothing at all on that level, just a blank wall stretching the length of the catwalk. 

“Nothing to report on this level,” he transmitted over the comm channel. “We’re headed to level zero. We’ll let you know if we need coverage.”

“Yes, sir,” Fi replied, suddenly all business since his skills as a sniper and medic may be needed before they returned to the ship. “I’m on alert.”

“Any progress on slicing into the panel?” Niner asked as he followed Alpha to the last ladder that stretched down to the floor.

“Nothing yet,” Atin reported. “The panel is loaded with security. I haven’t tripped anything yet, but it’s slow going.”

“Keep at it,” Alpha told him darkly. “We need to report back soon and the more intel we have, the better.”

“Sir,” Atin agreed. Alpha didn’t bother saying anything else. The fewer distractions he had, the faster Atin could slice the panel and the sooner Alpha could get back to the people who mattered.

 His boots hit the durasteel floor with a hollow-sounding boom! The same thing happened when Niner, then Darman reached the bottom of the ladder. Alpha waited for them to glance around, then went for the nearest gap in the barrier. He had noticed a while before that, along with several access hatches, there were a few narrow rectangles of thick transparisteel set into the barrier. 

When he peered through, however, he was greeted with a mass of wires and electronics. Niner had followed him, glancing through the pane as well. “Any idea what it is, captain?”

“No,” Alpha said flatly. Electronics were tricky. They could be programmed to do any number of things. He could take a guess at their purpose based on the way things were laid out and interconnected, but the GAR would want more than a guess, especially with something so strange and suspicious… and so close to Kamino.

“It’s a transmission station,” Darman contributed. When they both turned to look at him, he shrugged, indicating a warning sign set into the barrier. “There’s a lopretrium warning. Lopretrium is used to increase the range of transmissions. It’s a natural amplifier for frequencies.”

Alpha frowned. He remembered every bit of information he had ever come across, but that was new to him. 

Judging from his voice, Niner seemed to be thinking along the same lines. “Where did you learn that one, Darman?”

Darman seemed almost embarrassed when he replied, “Mereel.”

Alpha bit back a sigh. He didn’t mind the null ARCs - though they were some of the few ARC troopers he hadn’t personally trained - but there was something about running into the Skirata clan that made every trooper walk away with stars in his eyes. It was infuriating. More importantly, it could make a man lose focus on what was important.

“Okay, so it’s a transmission station,” Alpha agreed sharply. “Why don’t we know about it? The Republic monitors all transmissions that pass through this sector.”

“If transmissions are sporadic, they would be more difficult to track,” Niner theorized. “Or maybe they’re transmitting on a frequency that the Republic doesn’t watch as closely.”

“I’m getting more curious about who ‘they’ are,” Alpha said. “But okay, say they miss the transmission. Ships pass through this sector constantly - on patrol, on the way to Kamino, or just passing through. How did no one notice a single asteroid with a ship crash-landed on it before now? This is showing signs of having been here for a while.”

“I think it was originally part of an asteroid field.” Darman held up his datapad. “Remember that field nearby? I guessed that it was part of that, so I did some research. Turns out the field was closer, and this station would have been in the middle of it. The field didn’t shift until a few weeks ago, so it’s possible that no one noticed. This didn’t move with the rest of the asteroids, though. It’s a fixed location.”

“No one would have had a reason to scan an asteroid field,” Niner added. “No one would have noticed that this is actually metallic.”

“Not only that,” Darman said. “The hull of this station was covered in something rocky when we came over to the crash site. I think it was originally covered in a duracrete mixture that hid the metal. My guess is that constant collisions with other asteroids and the stress of being in open space chipped away at the duracrete until the metal showed through. It wouldn’t have taken much exposure for our scanner to be able to pick up a metallic surface.”

“Can we get inside?” Alpha asked.

“I wouldn’t,” Atin contributed through the comms channel. “I’m seeing signs that every access panel to the transmitter itself is heavily alarmed. It would take hours to slice through those security protocols.”

“Don’t bother,” Alpha told him, starting for the ladder. “I’m going to make contact with the Republic, then with Kamino. Whoever put this here, the kaminii need to know.” 

He had made it up to the fifth floor and the bottom of the ladder to the original access hatch when Atin spoke again. “Captain, I got into the system. These are the panels where the information to be transmitted is entered either manually or through a remote application.”

Alpha paused. “Were you able to retrieve any past messages?”

“Even better,” Atin replied, satisfaction thick in his tone. “I’ve got a call log. The station has recently received several calls from a comm frequency based on Kamino. I’m sending the frequency to your HUD now.”

A single flick of Alpha’s eyes was enough to pull up the comm frequency. After a split second to process, a violent smile stretched over his face.

---

“You didn’t find anything?” Pender demanded. You weren’t thrilled about the sharp reprimand in his voice, but you couldn’t exactly blame him. Pender’s eyes were wide and his breathing was fast. He was panicking, and with good reason. 

“No,” you admitted. “I looked at every record I could find, but no one else seems like a likely candidate for transmitting information, especially not on your behalf.”

“Listen, I know I’m a popular guy,” Pender started, pacing back and forth, “but surely you found someone who doesn’t like me. You know how these bounty hunters are. If they take the slightest dislike to you, they do crazy things to get revenge. You should have seen the way this one Weequay started treating me…”

You tuned Pender out as he launched into a story, still walking frantically around the room. His pacing turned out to be a good thing, since it meant he entirely missed the way you made uncomfortable eye contact with General Ti and Commander Colt. They knew as well as you did that Pender was among the least-liked people on Kamino. 

“I can at least give the Kaminoans my recommendation that they refrain from acting until we can launch a deeper investigation into this matter,” General Ti said kindly. 

Pender was unconvinced. “General, please don’t. I’ll do anything you want, but I can’t- Please, don’t tell the Kaminoans about this.”

The General tried to gently persuade Pender that she would do everything she could to help, but she had to make her full report. You had never been so grateful for your comm to ring than you were in that moment, and you happily stepped to the furthest corner of the room to accept the call.

You could have gone outside for greater privacy, but there was a chance that General Ti would pull some kind of Jedi trick on Pender, and you weren’t willing to risk missing that.

The frequency was unfamiliar, but you accepted it anyway, answering with a wary, “Hello?”

“It’s me,” Alpha said, his voice familiar and utterly comforting even through the small speakers of the comlink. “Pender’s a traitor.”

The unprompted statement was so timely for the situation that it took you a moment to process. “What?”

“Pender’s a traitor,” Alpha repeated with relish. “He’s been giving information to the Seppies through a disguised transmission station outside of Kamino.”

“Are you sure?” you murmured, trying to pitch your voice only barely loud enough to be heard over the chaos in the background. “How do you know?”

“We tracked the communications back to Kamino,” he told you. “They originated from his Republic-issued comlink frequency.”

“Pender,” you called, repeating it more loudly when he didn’t respond the first time. “Pender! I need your comlink. The one the Republic gave you.”

“Pender? Why are you with Pender?” Alpha demanded, but you ignored him.

“I don’t have it,” Pender admitted, shrinking under the harsh stares of the general and commander. “I lost it months ago.”

Your voice was sharp with exasperation and irritation. “And you didn’t think to mention this when you asked me for help?”

“It was GAR-issued,” Pender explained, sounding confused about why you were so upset. “I didn’t want to get fined for losing government equipment. You already told the general about the credit transfer when I asked you not to. I knew you would do the same thing with the comlink.”

“I believe it is clear that Pender is not the source of our information leak,” General Ti summarized, cutting through the rest of the chatter and accusations you, Pender, and Alpha were throwing around. “Pender, you are dismissed.”

Pender rushed out of the room as quickly as possible. When the door had closed behind him, the general continued, “That does leave the question of who the leak is. Administrator, do you have any theories?”

You shook your head. “Sorry, General Ti. I didn’t go far back enough in the security cam footage to catch who might have stolen Pender’s comlink. Now that I have a timeline, I should be able to narrow the list of suspects down.”

“General,” Colt said, voice urgent. “We’ve just had an unauthorized departure from the planet.”

“That must have been our traitor,” General Ti concluded. “We must go to the Kaminoans with what we’ve learned.”

“I’ll report what we’ve found to the Republic and the GAR,” Alpha informed them all through your comlink. “I’m sure you’ll be in contact with them, and it’ll help if they already know what’s going on.”

“Very good, Captain,” the Jedi said, inclining her head despite the fact that Alpha couldn’t see her. “And hurry back. I have a feeling we will need you here.”

“I will, General,” Alpha agreed, and you could hear the grim determination in his voice. “Omega Squad and I will have to stay long enough to catalogue what we find and report back to everyone, but I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Stay safe, Alpha,” you pleaded softly, as the general and commander turned away tactfully and started their own conversation. 

“I will, but I need you to do the same,” he countered. “I’ll see you soon...”

There was an odd, heavy pause before the call disconnected. It was probably because he didn’t call you neverd’ika since you had an audience… but you couldn’t help but wonder if there was something else he didn’t say.

You couldn’t dwell on it for too long. General Ti had called ahead to get an emergency meeting with Lama Su. Kamino’s prime minister hadn’t been happy at being summoned, but he agreed to spare the Jedi a few minutes. You didn’t need Jedi senses to catch the subtext: if it had been anyone else, the meeting request would have been denied.

It didn’t matter, though. All that mattered was that General Ti got the meeting and brought you and Commander Colt along with her. Given your particular history with the Kaminoans, you made a point of staying quiet while General Ti finished giving him a general explanation of what had happened.

By the time she had finished, more information had come to light. Colt stepped forward, already displaying the screen of his datapad. “Security has traced the unauthorized departure to a ship owned by Lenjam Banti, one of the bounty hunter instructors. They haven’t been able to reach him on the comms.”

“Do you believe Banti was the leak?” Lama Su asked, narrowing his eyes slightly. 

“Kamino security forces ran a sample of his skin cells through an outside database,” General Ti told him. “It revealed that he lied about his identity. Banti is actually a bounty hunter known only by the name Dengar.”

With that information and the new timeline Pender had inadvertently provided, you focused your attention on your own datapad, pulling up the security footage you had been looking through. Now that you had a suspect, it would be far easier to track down evidence.

“Impossible,” Lama Su decreed. “We perform an extensive background check on all instructor candidates. If he were lying about his identity, we would have discovered it.”

“Not necessarily,” General Ti told him kindly. “Your databases are extensive, but self-contained. It would have been simple for someone with the right skills to alter the information of the genetic information you have on file. The Kaminoan databases do say that the material belongs to Banti, but several outside databases confirm that the man is indeed Dengar. Your archives were sliced and altered.”

Kaminoan expressions weren’t easy to read, but even you could tell that Lama Su looked displeased. “And what evidence do you have that this Dengar was the one to collect and distribute information?”

Fortunately, you had found what you needed by that point. You showed him your datapad, with Dengar’s face clearly showing on the footage. He was frozen in time, leaving Pender’s quarters. “This is from several months ago. We hadn’t thought to look back that far.”

Lama Su’s look of displeasure began turning to one of derision and you braced for him to say something condescending, but General Ti interrupted before he could begin. “Prime Minister, you must act quickly. We do not yet know what information Dengar has or where he took it.”

“And why should I not take Doni Pender into custody?” the Kaminoan asked. “Why would Dengar have left so abruptly if he set up the perfect person to take the fall? It seems to me that the two could have been working together and had a disagreement. Or perhaps Dengar discovered Pender’s deception and fled for his own safety.”

“Prime Minister, Pender is the only reason we found out about all of this,” you chimed in. “He has made some missteps, but we wouldn’t have made this much progress if he hadn’t told us about the way he was being set up.”

“Sir,” Commander Colt said quickly, before Lama Su could reply. “The administrator was skeptical about Pender’s guilt despite the supposed evidence. She was looking into the situation. With her investigation and Captain Alpha-17 finding the transmission station with Omega Squad, Dengar probably felt it was too dangerous to risk staying here.”

Lama Su leaned forward, an intent look in his dark eyes. “How did you know about the commando team’s progress? Their mission is highly classified. They were not to discuss it with anyone.”

“I’m Captain Alpha-17’s commanding officer, sir. The GAR’s processes are that he should report to General Ti and I even on assignments outside of our command,” Commander Colt explained smoothly. 

It was an outright lie, but the commander’s sincerity and matter-of-fact nature made it far more convincing.

Lama Su didn’t seem like he entirely believed that, but General Ti spoke again. “We must act now or we risk unforeseen complications from the situation, Prime Minister.”

The Kaminoan steepled his long fingers and heaved a heavy sigh. There was a moment of charged silence, but he reached for the comlink on his desk. After keying in a frequency, he said reluctantly, “Until we can do a full audit of our information, Kamino is under lockdown. No one may enter or leave without approval.”

He glanced from General Ti, to Commander Colt, and finally to you. With his eerie eyes fixed on you, he said, “Perform all necessary activities to prepare for a potential invasion.”

---

Author's Note - Oh, here we go again... Thanks, as always, for reading!

Now for the unwelcome part of this note: I try to take a break about halfway through these stories to get the next part planned out and start writing. I'm not prepared to say that this is the halfway point (e.g. I legitimately thought this was chapter ten the whole time I was writing it), but I will be taking a small hiatus. You can expect the next chapter to be posted in the first week of March!

That being said, I do have some stuff planned for the time between now and posting Chapter Twelve. Feel free to send in asks for more information or background questions. As long as you aren't asking for spoilers, I'd love to answer your questions!

Thank you for reading and I'll see you in a few weeks!

Taglist: @rexs-wife @sugarpuffsstuff @stargazingthenightaway @just-some-girl-92 @kimageddon @ladysongmaster @carodealmeida @adriiibell @nomercyforthewarrior @boomtowngirl @bitchylittleredhead @blck-omen @hrk-fic-recs @lackofhonor @captxin-rex @literallydontlook @salaminus @mothmanbelievesinyou @archivedreading @lucyhelena @808tsuika @ladykatakuri @echos-gal @shawtyitsyou @butterbug14 @skyguy-snips @fan-fic-favs @frietiemeloen @tsedeshgishnii @buddee @justanothersadperson93 @leotatombs @mavendeb @rain-on-kamino @itsagrimm @dancingwiththeplanets @hummellchen @theclonesdeservebetter @wolffeswife @ladyemxo @maulslittlemeowmeow @murder-of-crows-1 @ollovaemisc @rosmariner @staycalmandhugaclone @marennial @fordo-kixed-rex @murderofcrows1 @quietplaceinthestars @dinsverdika

[muguathepapaya]

VOD PERSONAL TRAINING & PHYSICAL THERAPY Post spar gymselfie!colt

Commander myjediiscoolerthanyours Colt and Shaak ti, thrown in because togrutas are my favourite. I don’t think she understands why the selfie is being taken, but is fine with it either way.

What do you mean you thought he died, it was just an injury . See the scar? ( ; _ ; )/~~~

do I know what a rancor claw tattoo should look like? Not really.

Others in the personal trainer gym selfie series:

Howzer

Fives

Waxer, Boil, Gregor, Cody

Echo and 99

Colt and bonus Shaak

Hardcase

Cody

Wolffe

Jesse

Kix

Bly

Fox

Rex and bonus Ahsoka

Neyo

Slightly inspired by the fics head to head and show me those electric bones

[sebastian-moran-has-arrived]

Do you have any headcanons for Shaak Ti? Sfw and nsfw

I can't really think of any nsfw ones, but I got you for sfw ones!

-She's older than Obi-Wan by like a few years. Like she wasn't his crechemate but they became friends as younglings.

-She introduced him to tea and also taught him a method for calming down in a panic/anxiety attack (it was the 5-4-3-2-1 method and he taught it to Anakin and used it with him)

-She is designated mom friend, even before the Clone Wars started and she assigned herself to Kamino she was Mom TM

-Like she was so much a mom friend that when she said she wanted to be a Knight (and later Master) instead of a crechemaster it surprised a lot of fellow Jedi

-She loves tea, enjoys caf, and can beat practically anyone in a drinking contest or match them shot for shot

-She's very in touch with her Torgruta culture and whenever Anakin runs into a issue with Ahsoka that involves the fact she's a Torgruta, he goes straight to Shaak-Ti for advice and help

-She does not like working with the Kaminoans but keeps a calm and collected mask around them and keeps as many clone cadets as she can from being decomissioned for 'flaws' that the Kaminoans find

-She understands how important names are for clones and does her best to learn the name of every single clone on Kamino, and is always honored when a cadet asks her for help in choosing a name

-This last one is just because I find it cute, but Commander Colt develops a crush on her, and she quietly develops affection for him in return

-In canon it unfortunately never became anything because he died in the attack on Kamino before he actually told her how he felt

[sharpestasp]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Colt/Shaak Ti Characters: Colt (Star Wars), Shaak Ti Additional Tags: Drabble and a Half, Sexual Tension, Alternate Universe - College/University Series: Part 5 of University Snapshots Summary:

She asks, he comes

[cxptain-rex]

Scrosciare {Commander Colt}

pairing: commander colt x medic!reader

warnings: colt ain’t dead b*tches

This was requested by @catchmewiththelosers! I got so inspire writing this. I love Colt so much ok? Ok. I hope that you like it. This has been an amazing request and it’s beautiful! Enjoy! XX

***

scrosciare - the action of rain pouring down or of waves hitting rocks and cliffs

***

The grey sky screamed with thunder and lighting as it poured heavily upon the planet of Kamino. The clouds gave in to spill the cold water upon the clone facility. The cold rain manage to soak your uniform as you ran from the ship into the hangar. The stormy weather of Kamino always manages to bring you comfort whenever you come to the planet .

Today is no different than the rest. You stand on the hangar watching the droplets of water fall against the deck floor. The transport which has dropped you, leaves the hangar. The remains of battle still burning around the kaminoan facility. You have been called to aid the remaining troops which have fought in the Battle of Kamino.

“Doctor Y/L/N, it is a pleasure to have your company here once again” Lama Su greets you coming to stop infront of you. By him stands Jedi Master Shaak Ti whom bows to you in form of greeting. “Prime Minister, Master Jedi, it is an honor to be here” you say showing courtesy at the two figures of power in front of you.

“If you please, could come with us” encourages Lama Su and you follow falling in step with the Prime Minister and the Master Jedi. “The attack seemed to have done its blow” you muster making conversation with Shaak Ti. She nods softly, in a calming manner which inspires you aswell to feel at ease. “Yes, but our clones managed to stop the Separatist forces right on time” she answers and you feel pride swell in you.

The clones are manufactured for battle yet you always seem to have a soft spot for them. When you had been inform of your presence being needed in Kamino, you left the capital city of Coruscant and took a clone transport to the aquatic planet. Lama Su and Shaak Ti led you to the medic bay. It is erratic as you watch the clone medics rush around trying to help the troopers fighting for their lives.

The medic instincts in you kicked in. Excusing yourself from the Prime Minister you found the clone medic, Kix. “What can I do for you?” You asked receiving a salute from Kix. “Y/N! You’re here thank the maker! Please, check on Commander Colt” he refrained putting a bacta gauze on a clone trooper.

You rushed to a secluded side of the bay, spotting the commander laying on a bed. He clutched his abdomen, you spotted the lightsaber punctured. “Commander, it’s Y/N, let me help” you spoke stripping the Clone Commander off his armor and leaving him on his greys. He groans as you check the wound.

“You’ll live” you mumble joisting the commander to take him into a bacta tank. The hole in his chest blisters, you put a Bacta gauze on it. The commander struggles against your hold.

“I need some help in here!” You called, Kix arrived quickly helping you take the commander into a tank. The Commander now prep and ready floats in a bacta tank for the remaining of the night.

“What happened to him?” You ask, your gaze never leaving the crystal. He looks peaceful, the stress lines in his face fading to nothing as the bacta takes its time to work.

“Apparently Ventress managed to get to him” Kix says checking his datapad. You turn towards the medic clone, your eyebrows arching in a questioning manner. “It’s a miracle that he’s alive, Echo and Fives found him” assures the medic as he strode out of the room. You stand in front of the tank, staring at the commander.

You cannot deny the fear of thinking about his experience with that vile woman. In fact you felt your insides twist in a sickly way as you sat down, thinking about the Commander and how he managed to get away with his life hanging by a thread.

***

Days have passed since you arrived. The Kaminoan sea rages against the cloning facility as the rain ripples through the sky. You watch the darken horizon as some transports leave and come to the facility. You aren’t suppose to leave until a few more days, until now you have enjoyed your stay in the facility. Aside from helping out in the medbay you managed to sneak into the 501st barrack.

The battalion had welcomed you with open arms since you took care of every beaten soldier within their ranks. So far you have won your place in their lives. You spent the day in the barracks and the nights on a chair in the Commander’s room. You watch over him each evening in case he wakes up.

Today is no different, you finish saying goodbye to the 501st boys. “We hope to see you soon, Y/N!” Jesse barked as the rest of the boys laughed in unison. You smile at their antics as you make your way to the medbay.

Shaak Ti comms you, “Y/N, Commander Colt is awake” she announces. “Thank you, Shaak Ti” you thank picking up your pace towards the medbay. As soon you arrive Kix is draining Colt’s tank. You watch as he struggles until the tank is dry.

You grab a towel and wrap it around him, the cold blistering his lips as he puffs out air. “Commander, you’re safe” you reassure guiding him to the bed. The white sheets contrast against his tanned skin. You can’t help but let your eyes rack against his toned abdomen. A scar swirls now on his abs when a gaping hole stretched a couple of days ago.

“Doctor?” He questions blinking and taking in his surroundings. “It’s Y/N, Commander” you answer pulling up his bedsheets.

“Colt” he mumbles and you turn your gaze from the datapad in your hands. You meet his honey eyes, warm and gentle as always. A soft smile edges on your facial features. The Commander racked his eyes on your form. He always remembers whenever you came to treat the cadets. Now here you are, treating him.

“Thanks doc” he says causing you to giggle. That adorable sound you just made strikes him in the heart. Maker forbid him to fall more for you. “It’s Y/N, Colt and what for?” you ask meeting the trooper’s gaze.

Suddenly Colt feels heat rise to his cheeks, perhaps it’s the cold. No it’s not the cold, it’s you. He stammers over his words resolving to play with the bed sheet. “For taking care of me” he answers loud enough for you to hear. You intake a sharp breath, looking around the room.

As you put your thoughts in order you part your lips. “It’s my duty and I will always be here to take care of you, sir. I value your lives more than anything else and that is why I take caution whenever I come to check on the clones. I may not be out in the battlefield but you can be sure as hell that I will do anything to keep you safe” you say lifting your gaze from the white floor to meet the glazed eyes of the Commander.

The commander and the medic stared at each other. Even if the medic did not acknowledge it, Colt fell in love harder. You though, you have no idea of the Commander reciprocating those feelings that you have brew since the first time that you met him.

***

The day arrived for you to part from the cloning facility with the 501st battalion. You are being transferred to their ranks for a good amount of time. The order came in some days ago, you already had discharged the Commander.

You haven’t had the guts to tell him that you’re leaving. You just can’t bring yourself to leave him once again.

Now you stand on the hangar deck, basking in the rain droplets that kiss your face. Kamino will always feel like home to you, not for its facility but for its rainy weather and for the unspeakable bond between you and the Commander. You never speak about it but you can feel it. It’s the force or something, you recall from Master Shaak Ti.

Colt watches you from the main door of the hangar. He knows that you’re leaving, he heard the 501st boys talking about how their medic would be joining them in their next deployment. His heart skipped a beat when he heard that, Colt frowned upon the thought of you leaving the facility without saying goodbye.

He advances towards your soaking form, he always finds you soaking in the rain. Colt stands now by your side watching the rain. You smile softly feeling his presence. You do not need to look to know that it is him.

“I love being here, the weather is calming” you speak towards him. The rain has always fascinated you, he seemed to take notice on that since you came to the planet. “You’re leaving” he mumbles loud enough for you to hear. You sigh, turning to meet his gaze. Even with his helmet on you can feel his eyes on you.

“I have to” you remind folding your hands together. Water drips from your hair and into your cheeks. Colt raises a gloved hand to clean them. Along that movement he tucks a piece of your hair behind your ear. You lean into his touch softly, the warmth of his hand comforting you.

“Colt”

“Let me speak, please” the Commander begs his hand never leaving your face.

“Each time that I see you, it's as if space and time become the finest point imaginable, as if time suddenly stops. It's as if the galaxy begins and ends with you. I could run forever, search forever, but in the end, every path leads right back to your heart and soul. This war means nothing to me if you won’t be with me on the other side” he says tugging off his helmet to look at your Y/C eyes.

“Oh Colt” you mumble softly sniffling as fat tears roll down your cheeks. “I-I love you” you whisper wrapping your arms around the man you’ve grown to love. “I love you too, cyar’ika” he replies enveloping you in a warm embrace.

When he looked at you it was as if every ounce of breath was taken from your lungs floating into the air like water falling from the sky. Streamfull and clear. Now you see it and you adore it. You adore him. This is what falling in love feels like, you thought basking in his arms.

Time slows as you pull away to meet the eyes of the man you love. You need to look at him one more time, to make your mind take a photograph of the moment. A photograph that will help you through tough times.

The rainstorm whips around you, your expression is one of tenderness matching Colt’s. Something warm and sweet envelops your lips, his lips. Colt kisses the droplets from your kiss molding his against yours in a perfect shape.

The rain runs down your faces to where your lips meet, each of you tasting the cold drops. Instead of detracting from the intensity of the moment it brings you and Colt to new heights. Colt pushes his lips in more firmly and the wave that runs through you is intoxicating, making your head swim as you pull back to take in his beautiful face.

“I love you, Colt”

“I love you, ik'aad”

***

Ah ok I’m crying. I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I did! Seriously I love it! Reblog for more content! I appreciate that you guys share my content. I work hard for this request! Thank you guys! <3

[wanderinginksplot]

Gar Cyare Chapter Nine

More Alpha-17 x fem!reader!

Word Count: 5,000

Warnings: mentions of past harassment and assault, descriptions of an investigation/interrogation, mentions of the Kamino attack, brief mention of medical procedures, a hint of fluff.

Previous | Next | Masterlist

---

Echoy (Search)

You scrubbed a hand down your face as you sighed. You smiled when you realized that it was one of Alpha’s gestures you had apparently decided to copy, but it was short-lived. General Ti and Commander Colt had requested you for a ‘special project’ and the Senate had agreed, so you were officially helping with the investigation of the information leak. This was the second day you had sat in on bounty hunter interrogations and it wasn’t going well.

Currently, the general and commander were speaking with Otsa Kiro, a Pantoran male whose specialty was in information retrieval. He was an odd case - a bounty hunter whose missions had been much less violent than the others, but much more lucrative. He spent some of his time teaching the cadets how to slice, but the majority of his time was in curriculum development. He was intelligent, clearly, but very dry. You couldn’t claim to know him well, but you had difficulty picturing him doing anything as daring as spying on the Republic.

That being said, Kamino likely didn’t pay its bounty hunters very well. Maybe Kiro was searching for an outside form of payment. That had been the commander’s theory, anyway.

The holocam feed let you watch the proceedings without being inside the room itself. These interrogations were happening under the guise of a performance review. The general was in charge of the training process and, by default, the bounty hunters, so she was the natural choice of person to review effectiveness. Commander Colt was covering the trooper success rates for each bounty hunter. General Ti could monitor their responses through the Force while Colt watched their body language. You were in another room, watching the monitor used to record the sessions for future study if necessary, and could see readings of their temperatures, heart rates, and other physiological responses. 

None of it had done you any good so far.

“Thank you for your time, Kiro,” General Ti said politely. “We will be in touch if there are any other findings we wish to share with you.”

“Thank you, General,” Otsa Kiro said, rising gracefully from his seat and inclining his head at her. He left the room without acknowledging Commander Colt at all.

You shook your head as the general and commander fell into quiet conversation on the screen. The galaxy at large tended to be incredibly dismissive of clone troopers, but you would never have expected to see the same attitude displayed by beings who worked with them so closely.

When you glanced back at the screen, the commander and general were gone. You had a moment to prepare yourself before a knock sounded at the door. “Yes?”

Commander Colt opened the door, letting General Ti enter first before he followed. “Any luck with the monitors in here?” he asked.

“Nothing, unfortunately,” you replied. You had been briefed on what to look for during an interrogation, receiving a crash course in the physiological symptoms of guilt and stress for a dozen different species before putting your new knowledge to the test, but you had yet to see any confirmation of suspicious behavior. “Neither of you saw anything either?”

“Nothing,” General Ti said. If she was as frustrated as you and Colt were with the lack of evidence, it didn’t show on her serene face. “We have another interview in a moment. Do not lose hope.”

You offered her a weak smile. That was easier said than done. You had gone through a reasonable percentage of the bounty hunters on Kamino and found nothing. It wasn’t a good sign for solving this mystery.

“There he is now,” Commander Colt commented, gaze drifting to the screen behind you.

You glanced back as well, stomach dropping as you recognized the familiar face and form of Doni Pender. Your interactions with him had been remarkably limited since the incident, and you couldn’t pretend you weren’t grateful for that. There was a good chance that he was avoiding you - probably spurred on by some well-placed threats delivered by Alpha - but you were happy regardless of the cause. 

Surely Pender wasn’t stupid enough to sell Republic intelligence to the Separatists… though that would be remarkably in keeping with what you knew of him. But even if you did manage to see something incriminating, would your findings be considered valid since you had your own troublesome past where he was concerned?

The sound of your name made you jump slightly, and you turned to find General Ti giving you a quizzical look. “Is something wrong?”

“I-” The immediate urge to brush off your experience with Pender was strong, but you knew better than to lie to a Jedi. Besides, it would be relevant to the investigation - either because of your own feelings or because it was telling of Pender’s personality. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to be impartial with the next interrogation.”

Commander Colt made a noise that sounded like a hastily stifled snort. “You’re friends with Doni Pender?”

You also suppressed the urge to snort, shaking your head instead. “He harassed me for a brief period of time after the attack. Ended up punching me in the face before the end of it.”

General Ti’s expression showed a mild shock and an even milder distaste. Commander Colt looked like he had just connected some dots. “Wondered where you had gotten that shiner. Anything ever happen with that?”

“Uhh…” you trailed, unsure of whether you should tell them the truth given that they were two of Alpha’s direct supervisors. But they had asked you a question and you had to answer. “Alpha walked up just in time to see everything happen. He… he had some opinions.”

Commander Colt’s face cleared, his frown turning into something like satisfaction. General Ti inclined her head slightly. “Good.”

You choked back a surprised laugh at that, but the general continued before you had to come up with an appropriate response.

“If you are able to do so without any discomfort, please watch Pender’s responses,” she instructed. “As you have doubts about your own impartiality, Commander Colt or I will check your findings to ensure accuracy, but I do not anticipate a problem. Commander?”

Colt inclined his head and followed General Ti from the room. They appeared on the monitor only moments later.

“Doni Pender,” General Ti greeted politely.

Pender had stood from his chair when the general and commander walked in. He nodded to her. “Hello, General. You’re looking lovely as ever.”

It was a good thing the room you were in wasn’t being monitored as well. The violent gagging sound you had made would probably have been considered unprofessional by most people. From the look on his face, Commander Colt felt the same way - though he mostly managed to direct his expression away from the holocam.

“Thank you,” General Ti replied, sounding serene. “Please, take a seat.”

He did and she settled into the chair opposite him. Pender glanced up at Colt. “Aren’t you going to sit, Commander?”

“I’ll stand,” Commander Colt said, voice cold.

“Now, Mr. Pender,” General Ti started. “How do you feel the quality of your instruction has been over the past months?”

Pender’s face grew thoughtful. “I feel my instruction has been high quality as ever, though I’m sure everyone has to adjust their expectations after the attack. That was an inconvenience for everyone.”

The way your fists clenched was instinctive and you were thankful again that you weren’t in the interrogation room. The rest of the interrogation was more of the same: General Ti asking her questions and delivering polite recommendations while Commander Colt revealed that the success rate of Pender’s trainees was below average. Unsurprisingly, Pender took no responsibility for any of the problems, but insisted that he didn’t need any help or advice about fixing problems. 

“And how are you adjusting to life somewhere as remote as Kamino?” The general’s voice was kind, but you could see her concentration in the set of her face. “Do you get the opportunity to contact your family or friends often?”

“I don’t have much family, not that I’m in contact with,” Pender answered, frowning. “You already know that from my file, right?”

“Always good to double-check,” Commander Colt said, expression blank. “We’ve seen an uptick in long-distance communications lately. Security is always a concern.”

“Is that communication from Kamino employees or Senate administrators?” Pender joked. No one else in the room laughed, though his own chuckling lasted longer than you would have expected. When he had collected himself, Pender said, “If there’s been an increase in long-distance comms, it hasn’t been from me. I keep to myself other than the occasional call to a friend back in the civilized parts of the galaxy.”

“Very well,” General Ti said after a moment’s pause, rising from her seat. “Thank you for your time.”

“Hang on,” Pender said, managing to stand up halfway before Commander Colt sent a stern look of warning in his direction, stopping him cold. “Is that what this is really about? Long-distance comms? I knew it was weird that you were doing a performance review. Kamino doesn’t care about our performance; just how the cadets do. And it’s not like the Jedi pay close enough attention to care. No offense.”

General Ti waved away Pender’s lazy apology. “We are trying to play a more active role in the training processes found on Kamino.”

“No,” Pender denied. “You’re trying to find something… or someone. You’re asking about the comms for a reason.”

Back in the monitoring room, you stared at the screen, aghast. How could it be that someone like Doni Pender was sharp enough to pick up on an ulterior motive when beings far smarter than him had missed any chance to do the same? It was mind-boggling, and in the worst possible way. Pender could keep a secret well enough - he certainly hadn’t told anyone what had happened with you - but if he had information he thought could impress someone else? He would share it with everyone he could.

“Forget the comms,” Commander Colt told him. 

“No,” Pender repeated. “If you came to me specifically to ask about it, that means you’re investigating me. Why? I haven’t done anything wrong!”

There was a beat of heavy silence in the room, one that the unfortunately perceptive Pender picked up on. “Is it that administrator? The one working for the Senate? Did she tell you I did something? That I’m guilty of something? Because I’m not. She’s a liar-”

“We are not here to discuss the administrator,” General Ti said, her voice firm in a way that reminded you that some of the Jedi had powers to influence people. “Do not tell anyone what we’ve discussed here today. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter - it would be a pity to find that someone involved so heavily in training the Republic’s troops was unable to behave appropriately in such a delicate situation.”

Pender sat at the table a moment longer, staring down at his hands as the general and commander watched him. “What do you need from me?”

General Ti glanced at Commander Colt, who crossed his arms over his chest. With a casual tone that somehow managed to be menacing, he said, “Nothing, apart from your silence.”

“You are dismissed,” General Ti told Pender, who stood and left the room so quickly you couldn’t believe he hadn’t broken into a jog.

Commander Colt eyed the holocam and lifted his comlink to his mouth. You were already reaching to accept the call by the time your own comm rang. “Yes?”

“Anything noteworthy?” the commander asked.

“A lot of fear, but no guilt,” you admitted, feeling a petty surge of disappointment. It would have been a neat end to the situation if Pender had been the source of the information leak. “None that I saw, anyway.”

Commander Colt glanced at General Ti, who shook her head slightly. When the commander spoke again, his voice held a tinge of disappointment as well. “It’s the same on this side. We’ll keep at it.”

Dimly, you realized that you had been standing through the entirety of Pender’s interrogation. Now that the tension had lessened somewhat, you collapsed backward into the chair you had centered in front of the monitor.

The next bounty hunter had entered the room and was settling into his own chair. This one was a human male named Lenjam Banti. You didn’t know him well, but you recognized him easily enough by his customary headscarf. In fact, you had never seen him without it. Not that it was saying much. Other than Pender and Trem, you didn’t really know any of the bounty hunters.

As the interrogation started off with a polite greeting from General Ti and a monosyllabic reply from Banti, you rubbed your forehead.

You were never going to find this leak.

---

“We have made excellent strides today,” General Ti told you, her voice kind. “We are finished for this session.”

You frowned, feeling the sting of an unproductive day. “We didn’t find anything. I can keep going. We can keep looking for the leak.”

Commander Colt glanced over at her, his eyebrows quirked slightly. You were hardly close with him, but you had a feeling the commander was willing to continue with the interrogations as well.

General Ti shook her head, clasping her hands neatly. “We will begin again tomorrow morning. Enjoy your evening.”

And she walked away, clearly allowing the words to act as a dismissal. You glanced over at Commander Colt, trying to gauge his attitude about the day’s lack of progress. He was watching the general leave with a thoughtful look on his face, but he soon noticed you looking at him.

“Uh, good work today,” he told you, taking a moment to settle back into his typical crisp tone. “Get some rest.”

“You… too?” you replied questioningly as he left as well. 

Did you seem like you needed to rest or was that just a standard dismissal among the troopers? You shook your head, checking your wrist chronometer. Well, since you apparently had some free time…

You made a quick stop and then set out for the ARC training area. 

You hadn’t seen Alpha at all that day, and it was strange. The ARCs-in-training were doing an endurance exercise, one designed to stretch two full days with minimal rest, rations, and supplies. Apparently, it was meant to simulate conditions they might expect to find on more intense field missions, facing grueling work in harsh environments. It sounded exhausting to you, but you had dutifully recorded it on your datapad. It was important information for your report.

Ideally, you could go in to get an update on the ARCs’ progress, find out some more details, and record those - with sensitive information redacted as necessary, of course. You wanted to emphasize that ARC training had to shift and evolve with the strengths and weaknesses displayed by each group and each individual trainee. Any changes made mid-training program were of particular interest to you.

But there was also a chance Alpha would have to turn you away. The rules surrounding endurance exercises could be tricky, he had explained. He would allow you to visit and observe if he could, but there were certain sections that the Kaminoans kept utterly secret.

You smiled to yourself, thinking about the way Alpha had complained about this training. Not about the need to do the training itself, though. In fact, when you had asked if he would bring in another trainer to help so he could rest, he had scoffed at you. “How can I train them to be effective for two full days if I can’t do the same, neverd’ika?”

No, Alpha’s biggest complaint was that he wouldn’t be able to see you. You had spent some time together the night before last, just before he had started with the training. You had eaten dinner together and he had given you a few windows of time when you might be admitted to the training area.

Fortunately, General Ti’s insistence on stopping for the day meant that you were in one of those windows just then.

You were hesitant as you stepped inside the training area, but Alpha greeted you with a nod. He may have even sent a smile your way, but the thick plastoid of his helmet blocked you from seeing it.

Not that you were confident you could have seen it, anyway. The training area was darkened, whipped with a chilly wind that took your breath away. The ground was uneven and rocky, and you struggled to keep your balance as you walked toward Alpha.

He was walking toward you as well, steadying you when you stepped on a rock that rolled under your feet. 

“This way,” he ordered, his modulated voice scarcely rising above the howling wind. You let him herd you toward the observation deck. 

When you were standing safely inside, the platform rose into the air, lifting out of the worst of the gloom. The transparisteel walls flickered with statistics and images so Alpha could continue observing training from a slightly different location. He took off his helmet, eyes scanning over the information with a practiced understanding.

You blinked up at Alpha, trying to clear that water that was running down into your eyes. “What was that? Is it raining?”

“Yes,” he confirmed, frowning. “You’ve seen the training area before.”

“Not like this!” you told him, stepping toward the outer wall of the observation deck to peer down at the ground.

Every other time you had seen the training area shift to suit the needs of the trainees, it had been almost clinical. The small white squares of the floor and walls had lifted, slanted, or lowered to form a landscape still made up of white squares. The whole area had still been bright with the lights embedded in the ceiling.

This was an entirely different story. You assumed the room was still made up of those squares, but they were different colors now, mimicking an actual landscape, complete with debris and obstacles. The lighting was massively reduced, dimming to the point of being gloomy. The effect was worsened by the way fat raindrops fell from the ceiling, swept in all directions by the wild wind. You couldn’t even begin to guess where that was being generated, since it had seemed to emanate from every direction simultaneously.

Lightning flashed just outside of the deck. It was closer than you had expected and your hands shook. That reminded you about what you had brought for Alpha, and you wordlessly handed him the caf.

It was the largest cup you had managed to find, but it still looked small in his hands. He blinked at you, taken aback. “You brought me caf, neverd’ika?”

“Well, it certainly isn’t for me,” you told him. “You know I don’t drink it black.”

He took a deep draw from the cup, smiling slightly when he was done. “What’s the point in caf if you can’t taste the caffeine?”

“You don’t have to taste it to feel the effects!” It was an old, teasing argument the two of you had shared almost every time caf came up in conversation. By now, it was nothing but a farce - both of you knew every point the other would make. Still, you shuddered. “It’s like drinking sludge if nothing is in it.”

“Good sludge, though,” Alpha insisted, taking another large swallow from the cup. “But you didn’t need to bring this for me. I was fine.”

You both knew he was lying, though neither of you said as much.

“Of course,” you said instead. “Can you talk me through what’s happened so far?”

After you wiped the water from the screen of your datapad, you took careful notes on what Alpha told you. He warned that most of the information couldn’t be added to the final report… even considering that he hadn’t told you everything. 

“There’s one thing I still don’t understand,” you admitted. “What makes this different than any other training exercise? It’s important, I understand that, but why the weather and the specialized landscape?”

“ARC training is divided into a few different sections,” Alpha explained, slipping into his instructor voice. “This is considered the test at the end of the first section. By now, the ARCs should have learned to do the basics - thinking and moving independently, prioritizing tasks, disregarding orders when necessary - and this is the test of that. They’re still not ARC troopers at this stage, obviously, but they should have broken their patterns from when they were standard troopers. If any of those patterns are still there, we’ll find ‘em now.”

You hummed as you wrote that down, glancing up at him when you had finished. “So, how long am I allowed to stay?”

His expression twisted with regret. “Not long. We’re moving into an intense section in a few minutes and I need to be on the ground to make sure everything goes smoothly. Besides, I need to focus.”

“You can’t focus when I’m here?” you asked, delight clear in your tone.

Alpha grumbled, but his free hand found yours. “Never know where the kamiini are, or I’d show you how distracting you are, cyare. But I’ll make sure you have access to my report after we finish up here. You’ll learn a lot more from that than you will by standing here, especially without me to tell you what’s going on.”

“That sounds good,” you agreed, fighting back your disappointment. You wanted to watch the training, but you also didn’t quite know how to act without anything to occupy your time.

Alpha’s fingers gently squeezed yours. “How has the mess been without me? Are the cadets leaving you alone?”

“Mostly.” You smiled. “Limit and the kids have been sitting with me, so no one has had the chance to get too stupid.”

“Don’t underestimate them,” Alpha grumbled. He drained the last of the caf. “I better get down there. I’ll come find you after the training is over, but I’ll need to get some sleep.”

“I’m sure,” you agreed. “If you need more caf, let me know.”

“This is the last window for visits,” he reminded you. “We’ll be working nonstop from now until the end. Thank you for this, neverd’ika. I appreciate it.”

You smiled at him and tightened your hand around his before releasing it. “Good luck.”

“Don’t need it.”

---

You hadn’t told Alpha that you actually would be eating dinner alone that night. The Bad Batch were going through some kind of genetic testing in the medbay and - while you normally would have insisted on being there just to make sure nothing horrible would happen - the procedure was being attended by Limit. 

Limit wasn’t the head medical professional for the tests, but the Kaminoans had been letting him help in the medbay more often lately. It made Limit happy, so you were all for it. The kids seemed more at-ease, knowing that Limit would be there to watch their backs. It was a good situation for everyone… except maybe you, as you sat alone in the cafeteria. 

You sighed as you picked unenthusiastically at your food. It seemed ridiculous to regret that everyone was fulfilling their assigned duties, but it had been so long since you had eaten a meal without having someone to share it with.

It was fine. You were fine. You would finish your food and go do other things in other places that didn’t put such a strong emphasis on how alone you were at the moment. Stars, it might even be good for you. Everyone needed a chance to take a step back every now and then. You had been surrounded by your job since you first stepped onto the arrival platform at Tipoca City. It would be good to distance yourself, even if just for a single evening. 

You missed Alpha.

Scowling, you shoved the thought away, ate a few quick mouthfuls, and went to dump your tray.

From the cafeteria, you went to your office. You were on temporary reassignment, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t transmit the sections of the report you had completed earlier in the week. Uploading the sections took less than an hour and you refused to do any more work than necessary. It was an uncomfortable shift given how much time you had devoted to work only a few weeks earlier, but the end of the assignment was approaching fast enough as it was. You felt no need to increase that speed.

You puttered around in the office for a while longer, straightening up your desk and removing some of the clutter that tended to build up. When you started wondering if there was a way to clean the windows, you forced yourself to leave. 

Eventually, you ended up in your room. There was a holofilm you had meant to watch, so you put it on while you backed up a datapad and wrote out a few messages to friends who had asked how you were doing. It was a quiet evening and part of you was soothed, but it also felt… shallow. Unfulfilling. There was value in spending time alone and distancing yourself from this place, you decided, but it wasn’t what you needed then. You missed interacting with people and learning more about this place. 

When you thought about it, this was precisely the way you had spent your first few weeks on Kamino. It was a wonder you had managed not to quit, you thought with a soft snort. If you hadn’t met Alpha when you had, you might have.

You missed Alpha. 

Fortunately, you would see him in only a few hours. He would need to sleep after he finished with the training exercise, but you would see him the next day. More likely than not, Alpha would sleep through breakfast, but maybe he would join you for lunch.

With that hope buoying your low spirits, you decided to go to sleep. 

It was the early hours of the morning when you woke to the sound of your door opening. You sat bolt upright in bed, staring at the door frantically, though your vision was limited in the room’s low ambient light. 

“Udesii,” Alpha rumbled, his voice instantly soothing you. “It’s me.”

You relaxed slightly as he closed the door and began removing his armor. “You scared me.”

Alpha glanced at you, dark brows furrowed. “I said I would come find you after the training. What did you think I was talking about?”

“You said you were going to get some sleep!” you defended, nettled by the confusion and wry amusement in his tone.

To your surprise, Alpha chuckled. “Sorry to disappoint you, little one, but I am here to sleep. I suppose I could be persuaded, though…”

You shook your head, amused despite yourself. “You need rest, Alpha, and so do I.”

He hummed an agreement and settled into the bed beside you. He was dressed only in his body glove, heat emanating from him in waves. In seconds, Alpha was wrapped around you, his body cradling yours from behind as his fingers laced through yours. “Rest then, neverd’ika. Sorry to wake you up.”

“I would rather have you here than anywhere else, Alpha,” you said honestly. You were too comfortable to shuffle around and kiss him, so you lifted the hand that was cradling yours and pressed your lips to the back of it instead.

Alpha’s inhale hitched slightly, but he relaxed soon enough, settling deeper into the mattress as his breathing evened out. 

Unfortunately, sleep was more elusive for you. Your brain, having woken to a surge of fear, was whirring faster than ever. It had chosen to fixate on the information leak, turning the problem over and over as you considered every possible angle. You made no progress, but that didn’t stop the mental gymnastics.

You watched the chrono on your bedside table tick away the minutes as you waited impatiently for sleep. As minutes became an hour, you gave up any hope of sleeping again that night. No matter how weary your eyes were, your mind wouldn’t stop.

You gave a light sigh.

Alpha shifted slightly behind you at the sound and you caught your breath, hoping you hadn’t woken him up. It was no use - he kissed the side of your neck a moment later. “Everything okay?”

His voice, thick with sleep, made you smile even as you apologized. “Yes, I’m sorry. Go back to sleep.”

“Nice try,” he told you. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

You sighed again. “I can’t stop thinking about the leak. The bounty hunter interrogations aren’t going well, and the general hasn’t been able to find any evidence of a problem with the long-distance comms. It’s… frustrating.” You paused, an unlikely path presenting itself to your tired mind. “Maybe the Kaminoans are working with someone? Giving them information?”

Alpha snorted. “The Kaminoans don’t do anything that would jeopardize their profits.”

It had been half a theory, requiring no time at all to invent, but you were stung by his immediate denial of its likelihood. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. Nothing else could be going on. Why else wouldn’t anything show up on the comms?”

“Maybe they’re not going through the comms at all,” Alpha mumbled. You could hear the weariness in his voice and felt a sudden surge of guilt for keeping him from the sleep he so desperately needed. 

“Maybe,” you agreed. “But it’s not something we need to worry about right now. Sorry to wake you up. Please go back to sleep.”

“Mmm,” he replied eloquently. “Only if you come with me.”

You smiled at that despite yourself. “I’ll try,” you promised, turning to snuggle into Alpha’s chest as his arms closed behind your back.

---

Author's Note - we're officially in the investigation! For those who were excited to see the reader do more spy-type stuff, don't worry, you'll get your chance...

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