Fives hated the rain.
From a purely military perspective it made his job difficult, turning soft ground into mud which dragged at troopers feet and bogged down tanks. He had fought his way through enough swamps and rainforests to become an expert on the damp. There was another part of him that hated the rain for a completely different reason. It never stopped raining on Kamino.
The Kaminoans had forty two different words for rain. Right now it was svarin, drops as big as fists plummeting out of the sky and exploding on the metal deckplates of Tipoca City. The slightly curved surface of the deck guided the water towards drains so that it poured into the raging sea below. Fives, standing beneath the scant shelter offered by a metal overhang on the docking platform, wondered idly whether his dislike for rain stemmed from his genetic programming or if it was simply because he hated Kamino.
The cruiser's repulsor lifts roared, heaving the massive ship into the sky. He stood at attention, following the barked command of the battalion sergeant major, and watched as the cruiser groaned away from the city, rising up through the clouds and out of sight.
"Battalion fall OUT!"
The trooper battalion around Fives broke up into platoons and marched after their sergeants towards their barracks and the promise of warmth. Fives watched them go. Nearly four hundred troopers in identical white armour had formed an honour guard for the departing ship and the three thousand rookie clones, known as 'Shineys', who had departed on board. Envy tugged at Fives' chest as he saw them leave. He wished more than anything that he was with them, back with his brothers in the 501st. He had been on detached duty on Kamino for helping oversee the final stages of training for the new 942nd battalion. It was important work but he wished he was back on the front line. That was what he was born for. War was his reason for existing.
A group of clone troopers clad in white armour marched towards him, snapping a salute as the passed. Fives returned the salute. His ARC trooper armour, the mark of an elite clone, and the blue flashes of his battalion set him apart from his fellow brothers. Promoted during the attempted invasion of Kamino by Separatist forces he was the pinnacle of clone engineering and fighting efficiency. He was aware of the stares that shot in his direction and he reacted to them in much the same way that he would to a battle droids blaster fire. The awe of the cadets made him uneasy because he knew that not long ago he had been just like them: inexperienced and arrogant. He wondered what they would think if he told them he was the last surviving member of his training cadre. The other members of Domino squad were all dead. He was the last and looking into the eyes of a group of senior cadets on their way to battle drills he wondered how many of them would perish beneath a hail of battle droid cannon fire or be crushed by an oncoming tank or be burned alive by incendiary bombs. Fives had seen many of his brothers die. On the battlefield he could accept that, death was a reality of war, but back here on Kamino, surrounded by his younger brothers who had not yet tasted the acrid stench of battle it felt unfair.
"ARC-5555?"
Fives turned. The wide eyes of the Arconan bounty hunter El-Les blinked at him.
"I have the training schedule for the next group of cadets. I thought you might like to take a look." He handed a datapad to Fives.
"Thanks sir." Fives liked the Arconan better than some of the other bounty hunter instructors that the Kaminoans employed to oversee the training of clone cadets. El-Les always treated the clones he taught with respect and compassion, unusual traits for any bounty hunter. Fives supposed it had something to do with the Arconan need to be part of a group. They didn't see themselves as individuals but part if a greater whole, something which the clones could identify with.
"Thank you sir."
"I also wanted to say well done with that last group of cadets. Your lessons on battlefield tactics will help keep them alive."
"Luck will keep them alive better than my training."
El-Les's head dipped and his face took on an expression that might have been a smile, although Fives found it difficult to interpret Arconan moods. "I thought clones didn't believe in luck."
Fives shrugged. "I was no better skilled than the rest of Domino squad, but somehow I'm the only one left. I can't think of any other way to explain it. I don't believe in fate, so luck is the only thing I have left."
El-Les fell into step beside him and together they made their way down the long corridor towards the training centre. "I was very sorry to hear about CT-21-0408. He was an excellent soldier."
"He went down fighting. That's everything a clone hopes for," said Fives. CT-21-0408. Echo. He had been killed on a dangerous mission behind enemy lines and Fives still felt the hollowness of his loss. Echo's death had made him the last survivor of Domino squad and even though he had his brothers in the 501st he couldn't help feeling like he had lost the last of his true family. The boys that he had grown up with, trained alongside and fought for were gone.
"You would have been proud of him sir. He fought his hardest right up until the end."
"Until his luck ran out?"
Fives flashed his crooked smile at his old teacher. "It runs out for all of us eventually."
"Popper, watch the flank!"
Fives ducked behind a rocky outcropping to avoid the massed fire of a droid repeater cannon. A clutch of battle droids had worked their way to the right of Fury squad and were in deep cover, pinning the clones down with a hail of blaster bolts. The squad huddled into the scant cover, risking quick shots at the enemy but if they didn't move soon it would be all over.
"CT-7874 I'm talking to you. Suppressing fire on those flankers, come on cadets move it!" Fives bit back his frustration. The cadets of Fury squad were moving too slow. They were responding to the movement of the enemy, moving forward with caution instead of advancing. Five had learned the hard way that in battle he needed to be proactive, not reactive as these cadets were allowing themselves to be. If this was a real battle and not merely a simulation the droids would wipe them out.
"I want you lot out of cover and moving. Keen, you're squad leader today, get your team out of this crossfire. Let me see some fury from Fury squad."
A smatter of enthusiastic affirmatives bellowed over his helmet comlink, followed by cadet CT-1100, nicknamed Keen, shouting orders to his men. Two cadets laid down fire on the droids while the rest primed grenades and lobbed them towards the droids. An explosion of electromagnetic energy spewed from the droids position and the firing ceased.
"Good work cadets, now keep it up!" Fives hefted the weight of his training rifle, made to resemble a DC-15A blaster rifle. It felt familiar in his hands but he would have preferred his own pair of D-17 pistols. He raised his rifle to his shoulder and blasted a droid ahead. His job here was not to lead the squad but to observe how they operated as a unit. Other ARC troopers who oversaw cadets training liked to watch from the upper levels above the training area, but Fives liked to keep things up close and personal. Besides, he knew the presence of and ARC on their squad would make the cadets nervous and he wanted to see how they acted under pressure. So far he wasn't impressed.
"CT-7874, cut right and take out those repeaters."
"On my own?" What Fives could see of CT-7874 through the visor of his helmet didn't look enthusiastic.
"You heard me Popper. Now get a move on."
"Come on Keen I'll get scorched.'
Fives rolled his eyes. Scorched was the clone term for getting hit by a simulated blaster bolt. While not powerful enough to cause a significant injury, they were still pretty unpleasant and no cadet enjoyed the experience. Still that was no reason to question the orders of the squad leader. Very sloppy.
"I'm not going to tell you again Popper. Go."
Popper glared at his squad leader but nodded and ran towards the droid gun emplacement, ducking from the blaster bolts flashing over his head. The rest of the squad followed Keen, moving towards their objective, a heavily fortified sentry box. They had to get close to plant their charges, real close, but at the rate Fury squad was moving they were going to run out of time.
"Scooter, cut left, Brash go right." Keen dashed out from cover and sprinted towards the base of the tower. The sentry box was on top, simulating an assault on a fixed enemy position. Fury squad were nearly there, but Fives felt they lacked the imagination he expected in a good clone trooper. It was the one thing that made then superior to the droids they fought but there was nothing original about Fury squads approach.
Fives rolled into cover beside Keen. "Running out of time cadet."
"I know sir. We just need a few minutes to get into position."
"You don't have a few minutes cadet. You've run out of minutes."
A shout of pain from the other end if the arena snatched at Fives attention. Popper was down, his one man assault on the repeater guns had failed as he was on the ground, blue highlights on his armour indicating direct hits from a simulated blaster bolt. That Ieft the squads flank wide open and the cadets huddled into their cover as the heavy repeating blaster fire opened up. Two more cadets were scorched and went down, leaving only two to get the job done. Fury squad had failed but that didn't mean the exercise was finished. Battles didn't stop when teammates were killed.
"Orders cadet?" Fives turned to Keen.
"Assention cables. I'll go first. Then you and Chill can cover our rear."
Keen didn't wait for an acknowledgement. He darted out and aimed his assention launcher. With a pop the grappling dart shot up towards the summit of the tower and Keen began to climb. Fives fired his rifle, bringing down two droids and then he grabbed the cable and hauled himself up. There were no footholds, he simply had to brace himself against the sheer wall and rely on his arms to get to the top. Gravity and the weight of his armour and equipment tugged at him.
Overhead Keen cried out. Fives looked up to see him tumble backwards into open space. A blaster bolt from the repeater cannon had hit him in the back and the shock had made him let go of the cable. As the cadet fell, Fives threw himself out and grabbed at the cadet trying to break his fall. They weren't high, but high enough that an awkward landing might seriously injure or even kill the younger clone. His hand caught hold of Keen's belt. The weight of the cadet wrenched Fives hand from the climbing cable and they plunged down together towards the ground.
The impact smashed all the air out if Fives and he felt something crunch. The wave of pain told him that it wasn't his armour that was broken. It was him. Panic flashed through his mind, the fear of an injury severe enough to take him from the battlefield.
The noise of blaster fire ceased and the siren which marked then end of the exercise blared. Fives rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. His left arm hurt, and when he tried flexing the fingers on that hand he felt a spike of pain which raced all the way up to his shoulder.
"Call a medic!"
Fives smiled. That wasn't something he'd expected to hear during his mission on Kamino.
"You have been very lucky ARC-5555. A hairline fracture of the arm. You should be able to return to active duty in a couple of weeks."
Fives grunted his thanks to the Kaminoan doctor.
"How about Keen?"
"Cadet CT-1100 suffered some internal bleeding, but he will make a full recovery. No doubt your effort to break his fall prevented him from sustaining any serious injury."
"Good. How long do I have to stay in the infirmary?"
"I have finished logging your paperwork. You may leave at any time. I recommend that you get plenty of rest."
"Thanks." Fives watched the kaminoan out of the door and wiggled his fingers. The pain was still there but now that his arm was splinted it wasn't so bad. He slid off the bed, shrugged off his wife infirmary robe and slipped back into the black under suit he wore beneath his armour. His gear had been returned to his barracks and Fives felt strangely naked without his armour and especially his helmet. He had spent half his life looking through the T-shaped visor of his bucket.
He left his room and walked along the corridor. Kaminoans drifted past without sparing him a glance. A trooper on crutches hobbled by. Fives was uncomfortable here. No clone liked to think about their brothers who were wounded in battle and were unable to return to the field. Those with serious injuries found themselves in here in Tipoca City's hospital and rehabilitation wing. Fives shuddered, imagining what it would be like to have his purpose taken away from him.
He reached a data terminal and waited while a pair of Kaminoans finished working. Stepping up to the terminal he searched for cadet CT-1100's location.
He found Keen in one of the upper wards. The cadet was sitting up in bed, reading a field craft training manual. He looked up as Fives approached and saluted. Fives waved it away.
"How are you feeling cadet?"
"Fine sir," Keen glanced at the sling on Fives' arm. "You sir?"
"I'll live." Fives slid into a seat next to the bed. "I can return to active duty in a couple of weeks."
"That's good news." Keen fidgeted with the datapad. "I wanted to thank you sir. If you hadn't slowed me down I could be a lot worse off."
"Consider yourself lucky. If that had been real combat you'd be dead."
"Yes sir. I'm sorry we let you down."
"You let yourself down cadet. Next time I expect you to do better."
"We will sir."
"I know you will." Fives' expression softened. "That's what makes us superior to droids, we have the ability to learn from our mistakes. We can adapt to new experiences in a way they can't."
"Yes sir."
"So in future how will you adapt?"
Keen cocked his eyebrow and grimaced, the same way all the clones did when they were trying to work out a problem. "We have to move faster next time. He got bogged down and that gave the enemy tactical advantage."
"Good. Yes, that was your first mistake. What was your second?"
"Sending Popper off on his own to take out the repeaters. He couldn't do it on his own and when he failed it left us exposed and fighting on two sides."
"Yes. Not securing your position before moving on is a basic mistake. Of course sometimes it will be necessary to send a trooper under your command into a situation you know he won't survive. That's all part of the job. But if you do make sure its for a damn good reason. If today's simulation had been actual combat Popper would have been killed for nothing. We might be mass produced but that doesn't mean our lives aren't important."
"Yes sir."
"And you can cut that out. It's Fives. I may be an ARC trooper but I'm no officer. I started out exactly where you are. Don't forget that."
Keen smiled. "Somehow I don't think anyone from Fury squad will make ARC trooper."
"I wouldn't be too sure. When I was a cadet I was a member of Domino squad. We weren't the best. In fact the other squads used to joke that they enjoyed watching our simulations because it was fun to watch the dominoes fall. We used to argue and whine and moan at each other and it almost cost us everything."
"I find that hard to believe."
"Believe it. We were the worst squad in Tipoca City. Sure we could fight and fire a blaster but there's more to being a soldier than that. In the end we realised the only way to win was if we trusted each other and worked as a unit."
"I think I understand."
"Good. Because if you and your squad don't pull together you're not going to make it. There is no place for weakness on the battlefield."
Fives got to his feet and looked down at the cadet. They shared the same face, but somehow Keen looked impossibly young to the battle-hardened ARC trooper. He just hoped the members of Fury squad had what it took.
"One more thing: we aren't just numbers. Next time I see you practising I had better hear you using each others names. "
"They're just nicknames."
"Perhaps, but they're still yours and nobody can take that away from us," said Fives. He nodded to the cadet and began to move off.
"Fives?"
"Something else cadet?"
"One man sir."
Fives cracked a smile. "But the right man for the job."
He wasn't sure why he had confided his squad's difficult past with Keen. Perhaps he saw something of himself in the cadets. That made him laugh. Of course there was something of him in Keen, just as there was some of Keen in him. They were brothers, genetically identical. But despite the Kaminoans skill in cloning, Fives had never met two clones who were exactly alike. They shared the same traits, namely a fearless resolve to get the job done, but there was much more to them than that.
He glanced up at a holographic monitor, trying to work out the best way back to his quarters from here. The hospital was a maze of identical corridors. A couple of clones acting as orderlies pushed a gurney with a wounded clone on it. Fives nodded at them and tried to ignore the empty space where the clone's legs should have been.
He moved on, wondering what the members of Domino squad would say if they could see him now. He imagined the sarcastic joke that Cutup would make. Of them all only Echo had lived to be promoted to ARC trooper alongside Fives. No doubt he would have told Fives to follow orders, get on with the job and stop worrying. He thought about his advice to Keen. Sometimes it was necessary to give your life in the line of duty. Hevy had made that sacrifice on the moon of Rishi fighting against Separatist forces. He had sacrificed his life to save his brothers.
"It should have been you wearing this armour instead of me. You'd have know how to get these Fury cadets motivated."
He had spoken aloud, not expecting an answer from his dead brother, so he jerked with surprise when a voice spoke to him.
"Hello?"
Fives looked around the corridor, which was now deserted. "Hevy?"
"In here."
One of the doors lining the corridor was ajar. Fives stepped up and pushed it open. He found himself in a small side room. A window overlooked Tipoca City, layered to muffle the battering rain which lashed against it. Inactive life support machinery hung from overhead supports. A single light hovered over the bed where a young clone lay looking up at him. The boy seemed around twelve, which in accelerated clone years meant he would be around five or six years old.
"Hello cadet."
"Hello yourself."
"Are you alright?"
"I was looking for the nurse." The boy's eyes, brown like Fives' caught on the insignia patch on the older clone's shirt.
"Are you an ARC trooper?"
"That's right."
"Amazing."
"I'll go get the nurse for you..." Fives glanced up at the name board over the boy's bed. "CT-9993-67."
"My name is Dropkick. Can you help me, I just want a drink."
"Okay." Fives moved to a water dispenser in the corner of the room and filled. "Here you go."
"I need you to hold it for me," said Dropkick. "I can't move my arms."
Fives grunted, for the first time taking note of the awkward way the kid was lying in the bed, rolled on his side with pillows wedged under him. His legs and arms appeared wasted and atrophied.
"Maybe I should get the nurse..."
"You don't know how to hold a cup? I though ARC troopers were supposed to be smart."
Fives' lip twitched. There weren't many clones who would dare speak to a member of the ARC corps that way, but a legacy of their genetic template, Jango Fett, was a certain disregard for authority figures. He leaned over and held the cup to the boy's lips. The young clone gulped down the water and licked his lips.
"Thanks. I'm parched. They're never around when I need help."
"Who?"
"The long necks."
"The Kaminoans?"
"Yeah. They've got more important things to do than worry about me. They worry about clones who they can make better. What happened to you? "
"Fell during a training simulation. Broke an arm."
"Did it hurt?"
"Of course it did."
"Well I dunno, I've never broken a bone."
"So what happened to you?"
"I was going over the assault course and fell. I fractured my spine and now I can't move my arms or legs."
Fives felt his gut drop. The Kaminoans were wizards when it came to repairing battlefield injuries. With the proper rehabilitation a soldier could return to action even after suffering horrific injuries such as multiple amputation. Prosthetics and cloned organs ready for donation gave soldiers a chance to get back to the job they had been bred for, but there were some injuries even the Kaminoans couldn't fix. He looked down at the young clone, realising that he would never get his chance to fight alongside his brothers. It was abhorrent. It was unfair.
"Sorry."
"It's not your fault. It's just something that happened."
"How long have you been here?"
"In hospital? A few months. I was in pretty bad shape for a while but the long necks have been trying some different treatments to make me better."
"That's good."
"They haven't worked." A grin split Dropkick's face. "But the worst thing is the boredom. There's nothing to do and the long necks aren't exactly big on conversation."
"It's not one of their strengths, no." Fives fiddled with the frayed end of his sleeve. He put down the empty cup. "You get used to it though. There's a lot of sitting doing nothing in between the excitement of fighting. That's something the Kaminoans don't teach us. You have to come up with ways to keep yourself busy."
"So what do you do, to stop being bored?"
Fives sighed. "I don't know. Train. Read terrible books. Play games."
"I used to play hoverball. That's how I got my name."
"Dropkick. It's a good name. I'm Fives. ARC-5555."
"It's nice to meet you ARC trooper Fives. I don't get many visitors."
"What about your squad mates?"
"They drop by every so often but it's awkward. I don't think they know what to say to me."
Fives could relate to that. It felt very strange being close to this broken boy. It felt wrong. The bright intensity in the boy's eyes was startling considering what he must have been through, and the unnatural stillness of his body spooked Fives.
"I should really be getting back to barracks."
Dropkick's face fell a bit. "Oh, yeah sure. It was nice talking to you Fives. I've never met an ARC trooper before."
"It was nice talking to you too."
"Maybe you could come back and visit me another day?"
"Maybe," Fives grunted. "If I spot the nurse on my way out I'll tell her you were looking for her."
The pain in Fives' arm throbbed with each step he took up the corridor away from Dropkick's room. An overwhelming sadness had settled over him, just as it had after, Echo had been killed. It was a lonely feeling, a feeling of helplessness and it was not something Fives was used to dealing with. In battle his training and experience allowed him a certain control over the situation. He could affect the outcome of a battle through his actions. But there was nothing he could do for Dropkick. Absolutely nothing.
He stumbled into a Kaminoan nurse, almost knocking her over.
"Kindly watch where you are going, trooper," said the nurse in a haughty tone.
"My apologies ma'am, I wasn't looking. One of your patients asked me to find you."
"Which one?"
The cadet in room 212, Dropkick."
"CT-9993-67?"
"Yes ma'am."
"I will look in on him, thank you trooper."
"Excuse me, but can anything be done to help him?"
"It's not my place to discuss patients medical history trooper."
"That's ARC trooper, ma'am." Fives' voice was stiff and he injected as much regimental force into it as he could. "I'm attached to the training corps and I just asked for a status report on one of my cadets."
The Kaminoan blinked her wide violet eyes and took an involuntary step back. "I apologise ARC trooper. I'm afraid there isn't anything we can do for CT-9993-67. He has a high degree spinal separation. We had hoped to regenerate some of the nerves at his injury site but our attempts have been unsuccessful. He is likely to remain paralysed from the shoulders down."
The hollow clench in Fives' stomach contracted another notch. "I see. Thank you."
The Kaminoan's long neck swayed and her eyes studied the ground. "It is a tragedy. Dropkick is especially bright, even for a clone. He would have made an excellent soldier."
"Perhaps we can still find a place for him. If his mind is sharp he may be able to fill another role."
"I'm afraid that will not be possible." The Kaminoan seemed genuinely upset. "I'm afraid he's been scheduled to be terminated."