19 BBY
Malrev IV
Hyperion Squad was receiving bad news.
"General Tur-Mukan is coming to Malrev IV. She's checking in on all squads in Arca Company." CC-01/327, the squad's clone advisor reported, his holographic figure standing on the table before them.
Jawbreaker held a hand up to his head and looked stricken "Oh, Force no," he said in a voice barely above a whisper.
"Noooo…" Genet groaned, slouching in his seat.
Ever since that Mando-loving traitor, Bardan Jusik had deserted, General Etain Tur-Mukan had taken over leading Arca Company. As far as Hyperion Squad was concerned (and many of the other Kelborn-trained commandos for that matter), Tur-Mukan was not much better than Jusik. She was another one of Skirata's blind followers, and like the rest of them, she had an astoundingly poor understanding on the war and the Jedi's role in it. Hyperion Squad had met plenty of Jedi over the course of the war, and more often than not, they had been incredible people, who certainly cared for the troops they fought alongside. And yet, with Tur-Mukan, one would think that all the Jedi did was blithely send men to their deaths while the Jedi themselves never set foot on a battlefield. It was incredible how her vision of what the Jedi were was so completely at odd with what they actually were.
"Stow the attitude, Hyperion," Advisor admonished "I know General Tur-Mukan is one of Skirata's lot, but you show her respect regardless. She is a general, after all."
"Permission to shoot her the second she starts showing Mandalorian sympathies? We don't want her starting up the Mandalorian Protectors again," Genet suggested, smirking.
It was impossible to see Advisor's expression through his helmet, but by the way he was tilting his head, Cabur doubted he was impressed.
"I had better not receive word that you've done anything to offend General Tur-Mukan, Hyperion." He turned to face Jawbreaker, holding his gaze for several long moments "Advisor out."
And at that, the hologram vanished.
Jawbreaker scowled and clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white.
Three years of war, plus having to deal with Skirata and his gang of thugs had taken their toll on Jawbreaker. Cabur feared that Jawbreaker was reaching the end of his rope. Some clone troopers would just snap, "Feeling it", they called it. That Jawbreaker, of all people could be going through that shook Cabur. Of the four members of Hyperion Squad, he thought that Jawbreaker was the most solid, the most stable, the strongest. He was the squad's rock. But even he had his limits, and Skirata and his lot were putting them dangerously close to the breaking point.
The Nulls, Etain Tur-Mukan, Bardan Jusik, Besanny Wennen, Jaller Obrim and Force only knew who else. Genet called them the Creepy Cultists of the Church of Skirata, and to Cabur, that was not far off. Skirata and his allies struck Cabur as being dangerously close to a cult. Cabur had no idea why, but some people found Skirata to be charismatic and charming. He attracted people to him, even people who ought to know better and they would hang on to his every word, believe every lie, stroke his ego and bend over backwards to accommodate him.
"Well…I'm sure this will be fun," Destroyer said, smiling nervously.
"Yeah, fun like a blaster bolt to the belly," Genet muttered, crossing his arms.
Before Cabur could say anything, General Alyss Vrax and Commander Sunny strode towards them.
"Hello, Hyperion!" She said brightly, beaming at them.
Cabur quite liked General Vrax, she always seemed to be in a good mood. Whenever one of her troops was injured or upset, she would always do her best to console them. A green-skinned, orange-eyed Mirialan, she was clad from head-to-toe in the voluminous black robes of her people. Clipped to her belt was a lightsaber that had been carved from a block of Durosian marble, and upon closer inspection, Cabur could see that that some that flowers of some kind had been meticulously etched into the hilt.
Besides her was Commander Sunny. Sunny, in contrast to both General Vrax and his name, was a very dour, quiet individual. Still, the leader of the 18th Solar Corps was an excellent soldier, of that there was no doubt. Violet suns were painted on either side of his helmet, and there was more colour on his torso armour and arm-plates. Alongside the paint, the armour also bore plenty of marks from blaster scoring. Under the helmet was a face covered in numerous scars, and his hair had been shaved at the sides. Sunny was a man who had seen battle plenty of time in his life, and it showed.
"General Vrax, Commander Sunny," Hyperion Squad stood at attention, getting up from their table in the mess hall.
"At ease." Vrax nodded at them.
"So, General, have you heard that General Tur-Mukan is coming?" Genet asked, before any of the others could speak up.
"Yes, I was brief earlier. It's nice to see that the Special Operations Jedi are so involved with their troopers."
Jawbreaker bristled at being referred to as one of Tur-Mukan's men. General Vrax looked surprised and cast her head in the Sergeant's direction. Before she could say anything, Genet spoke up again.
"Have you met General Tur-Mukan before, General Vrax?"
Vrax shook her head "No, I haven't. Anything I should know?"
Genet opened his mouth to speak, but Cabur beat him to it "No, General, nothing worth reporting."
Vrax looked somewhat bemused "Alright then, good to know. If you'll excuse us, we should get in line. Nice talking to you, Hyperion."
"Likewise, General." Jawbreaker nodded stiffly.
The General and Commander Sunny walked off, and Hyperion Squad sat there in awkward silence. After a minute, that silence was broken.
"I'm going for a walk around the perimeter." Jawbreaker got up and strode away from the others at a brisk pace, head bowed low. Cabur could see that Jawbreaker's hands were clenched.
"It's not healthy for him to bottle up his anger like that," Cabur stated matter-of-factly "If he keeps this up, he'll probably end up exploding at Skirata."
"Or shooting him," Genet said, and started to laugh, before trailing off, suddenly looking serious.
He had meant it as a joke, but saying it out loud made it sound less ridiculous and more possible than they all would have liked.
"You…you think they'd court martial him for that?" Destroyer asked, frowning.
"In a fair galaxy, they'd give him a kriffing medal for it," Genet said, his tone bitter as he crossed his arms.
"Yeah, well, in a fair galaxy that poor kid would never have been snatched up by that psycho, Munin Skirata." Cabur added.
They settled into an uneasy silence as they finished their meal. As he was finishing up, a thought suddenly came to Cabur.
"Catch up with you two later, I have something I need to do." And at that, Cabur hurried out of the mess hall.
Cabur knocked on the door to the General's quarters. "Oh, just a second!" The voice on the other side of the door sounded surprised. Evidently, General Vrax had not sensed Cabur approaching. He paused, that was odd, Jedi were usually more on the ball than that. After a moment, the door slid open and General Vrax stood there.
"What can I do for you, Cabur?" General Vrax asked, smiling.
Cabur peered at Vrax closely. Her smile seemed different, more…forced than it had before. And her eyes, now that Cabur could see them up close, had dark bags under them.
Cabur paused, before speaking "Um, is everything alright, General?"
General Vrax blinked, surprised, before answering: "Everything's fine, Cabur. Just…haven't been sleeping much, y'know? So, what was it that you wanted?"
As lies went, it was pretty transparent. Cabur wondered if perhaps the stress of the war was getting to her too, but decided that it was not his business to pry.
"It's my sergeant, General. I'm a little worried about him. Three years of war, little rest, and well, it's taken his toll on him."
Vrax nodded "I see. I understand, too. All this time, it's been rough on us all."
"Indeed, which was why I was wondering, perhaps you could...use the Force to help ease his anxiety?"
"Not without his permission first," Vrax said firmly "I appreciate that you're trying to help your brother, but if I'm going to help Sergeant Jawbreaker, I want his consent. What you ask would require me to influence his mind. Not something I do lightly."
"Of course, General. If I could convince Sergeant Jawbreaker to see you, would you help him?" Cabur asked, hopefully.
"Of course I will. But, only with his permission."
Cabur nodded quickly "Thank you, General. I'll be back as quickly as I can!"
And at that, Cabur turned and ran back into the camp, looking for Jawbreaker.
"Is this really necessary?" Jawbreaker asked, frowning at Cabur.
"You have to admit, lately you've been pretty overworked. Between all of our assignments across the galaxy, and Skirata's lot back on Coruscant…well. It's been rough for you."
"Granted, but still, this seems a bit much."
"Maybe it is, but I just don't want to see anything happen to you, Sarge. You've seen how some men get when they're put under too much pressure."
Jawbreaker offered a small smile "And of course, if anything happened to me, then you'd be put in charge of the squad."
Cabur chuckled "Yeah, that'd be terrible. I take orders, I don't give 'em."
They arrived outside the general's quarters, and the door opened as they approached. General Vrax turned to Jawbreaker and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Sergeant Jawbreaker. Are you ready?"
Jawbreaker paused for a moment, and nodded. At that, the three stepped inside.
The day had come, General Tur-Mukan was arriving on Malrev IV. Naturally, Hyperion Squad was not happy. First, she would meet with General Vrax and Commander Sunny, then she would greet Hyperion Squad. Cabur looked over at his sergeant. He had his helmet on, so Cabur could not see his face, but his posture was much more relaxed than it had been the other day. General Vrax had done wonders.
"Well, here we go," Jawbreaker muttered as General Tur-Mukan strode towards them.
"Hyperion Squad, so glad to see you! I hope you're doing well." Tur-Mukan exclaimed, smiling broadly at the commando squad.
"General Tur-Mukan," Jawbreaker said, with no enthusiasm whatsoever.
Tur-Mukan frowned, tilted her head and glanced at Jawbreaker curiously. After a moment, the smile returned and she reached for her belt. She unclipped a small bag from it and held it out to Hyperion Squad.
"I brought you something. I thought you might appreciate some real food instead of the standard rations."
Without reaching for it, Hyperion Squad leaned forward and looked into the bag.
"She brought us candy," Destroyer said over the helmet-comm, his voice faintly bemused.
"You think that's how she got Darman? 'Come into my speeder, little boy, I've got candy'?" Genet asked, mockingly.
Tur-Mukan's smile started to slip from her face, and she began to look uncertain. The arm holding out the candy lowered ever so slightly. Still Jawbreaker made no move to reach for it.
Cabur sighed "Look, Sarge, just take it. We can give it to the troops when she's not looking."
Jawbreaker hesitated for a further moment, before slowly, reluctantly, he reached out and took the candy from Tur-Mukan. As soon as Jawbreaker had done so, she had lit up, and beamed at Hyperion Squad. Evidently she was not picking up on their disdain for her. Cabur wondered if she was ignoring it, or if she thought it was directed at something else. It was at that moment that Commander Sunny and General Vrax walked past, the General giving Hyperion Squad and Etain a wave as she did so. Tur-Mukan frowned and looked away from General Vrax. When she had passed by, Tur-Mukan shot each member of the squad a concerned, pitying glance.
Well, that answers that question, Cabur thought as he rolled his eyes. Besides him, Jawbreaker bristled.
This was not going to be an easy visit.