Dana: I don't own Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Chapter 3

Sterling couldn't help but smile as Hardcase cheered happily; Emily's lips twitched upwards in silent agreement. It was nice to see the generally professional clone troopers show signs of emotion other than strict stoicism. Hardcase wasn't the only one enthusiastic; Echo was staring at the park with frank speculation while Waxer and Boil exchanged eager looks. Sterling carefully maneuvered the RV into a parking space with some difficulty considering how large and clunky the vehicle was. Oddly enough, she managed to park it rather well for someone who's never driven before. Emily stood up and stretched; even after years of long car rides to visit relatives in the United States hadn't gotten rid of that feeling of sitting in one place for ages. Once everyone had gotten out of the RV, Emily turned to the clones.

"This way boys; I'll handle the tickets."

"I'll meet you guys at the ticket stand, I just need to do something first," Sterling said.

Emily raised an eyebrow; "Anything serious?"

"Just need to swap the licence plates. I "borrowed" a couple from the office back at the depot. I'll be with you guys in a minute" Sterling explained

Emily nodded, a little sheepish that she hadn't remembered that. Turning to the clones, she gestured vaguely and said, "Right. C'mon guys, let's get in line."

Swapping the licence plates took only a couple of minutes. Sterling jogged out of the parking lot to where Emily and the clones were waiting for her. Emily was standing in line with the clones, she felt a little disoriented about seeing them out of their armour. She had already bought the tickets and had been waiting for Sterling to arrive.

"Done," Sterling said. "So, what ride do people want to go on first?"

Hardcase immediately pointed at the Leviathan. Emily went wide-eyed, let out a small squeak like a cat whose tail had been stepped on and threw her hands in the air. "I'm not going on that thing!"

"I'll go with them. You can stay on the ground." Sterling said, there was a hint of apprehension in her voice that no one seemed to notice.

The brunette visibly crumpled with relief. "Thanks."

"No problem."

"Yay!" Hardcase shouted, clapping his hands together gleefully.

Echo looked kind of excited too. Kix, on the other hand, was eyeing the Leviathan in a way that made it plain that he didn't see the attraction at all. Waxer looked uncertain, while Boil was grinning.

"The attraction is riding on that thing Kix," Sterling said, noticing the medic's apprehension.

"I can tell. But..." Kix waved at the massive rail, particularly the part that tilts sideways up in the air, "... People ride it for FUN?!"

Hardcase wasn't paying attention, and Sterling noticed that he had already run off with the others to get in line with Fives and Echo.

"That and the adrenaline rush." Sterling sighed, "Come on Kix, let's get in line before the others get ahead of us."

"Adrenaline is the purpose for all these things. You get a rush without doing anything stupid, like speeding on a highway. But I prefer more SANE rides. That don't go so high up, and sideways!" Emily said, a slightly hysterical note entering her voice.

Rex was standing off to the side with Emily. He didn't want her waiting on her own; there were potential hostiles in every crowd. She noticed and smiled gratefully at him; often she found herself waiting alone when at the park, having refused to go on the ride that everyone else was enjoying. Sterling had already jogged off to catch up with the others, her short hair bouncing under her grey headband that covered her ears. Kix eyeballed the ride one more time shaking his head and taking up the spot on Emily's left. "I don't get it," he insisted. Emily chuckled with understanding.

Fortunately or unfortunately in Sterling's eyes, the line for the Leviathan was short and she ended up sitting between Waxer and Boil.

"I can do this," Sterling whispered to herself.

She hadn't realized that she was trembling until Waxer, frowning, pointed it out:

"Are you okay?" He asked gently "You're shivering."

Sterling gave the man a strained smile, if there was one thing she hated more than heights, it was insane roller coasters, it wasn't like she was going to say that. She felt it was more important to be in solidarity with these men, who'd hardly had a day off in their lives and probably hadn't had any real time to enjoy themselves. That was worth going on one or two crazy rides.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. Don't worry about me." Sterling said, with shaky confidence.

Right as she finished her sentence, the rail started moving. Sterling heard Hardcase cheer, along with several of the other patrons, from the front car. She wasn't surprised that he had sat right up at the front of the ride, in the very first car, along with Echo.

"I hope I don't lose my glasses on this," Sterling muttered, tapping the brown, blue and purple frames.

"Can't you pocket them?" Boil asked, silently cursing himself for not thinking of that before they got on.

"Pockets are too small. And they'll probably break that way." Sterling explained briefly, "And we're going up."

"Oh dear, I'm starting to think this was a mistake." Waxer said as he realized how high they were going

"Relax, how bad could it be?" Boil asked in an attempt to comfort Waxer

"That's what they all say," Sterling muttered.

Rex and Emily, who were watching from the ground as the ride was about to take off.

"I hope she's going to be okay," Emily said, biting her lip.

Rex shot Emily a concerned look, wondering if he should have insisted that Sterling didn't have to ride.

As soon as the ride stopped going up, it remained at the peak of the drop for a few seconds and then dropped. Sterling screamed at the top of her lungs, causing Kix to flinch, his hand instinctively going to his belt where his blaster would have been holstered. Emily winced sympathetically as she heard people shrieking on the ride, some with eagerness, others with regret at their life choices. Rex was pretty sure he could hear Hardcase cheering.

When the ride stopped, after what felt like an eternity for poor Sterling. She slowly released her grip on the restraints, pulling her nails out of the rail. She stumbled down the stairs, and sat down on a bench, pressing her head onto her knees. Waxer was the first to notice and was at the teenager's side, gently placing his hand on her shoulder, repeatedly asking if she was alright. That of course, summoned both Kix and Emily.

"Oh God, I forgot how much solid ground shakes like an earthquake when I get off that thing," Sterling muttered, keeping her eyes firmly on her boots.

"That was amazing!" Hardcase exclaimed bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Emily shot him a "seriously?" look as she rubbed circles on Sterling's shoulders, concern radiating off her to an almost tangible degree.

"I just need a minute, so the Earth stops shaking." Sterling took a breath, straightening her shoulders and nodding at her friend. "I'll be fine."

Kix didn't look convinced at all. Sterling was as white as a shinnies' armour. Emily also noticed that Sterling was paler than normal and handed Rex some change. He raised an eyebrow at the strange looking coins and gave her a curious look.

"Rex, could you duck into that store and grab a roll of Menthos?" She asked by way of explanation, squeezing Sterling's shoulder as she did so.

Rex nodded and jogged off. Emily turned back to Sterling. "For your stomach." She said, mostly for Kix's benefit; the clone looked like he was ready to haul her friend out of the park and give her a basic examination. He nodded in approval.

"Thank you. Son of a bitch, I forgot how close to getting sick I get after I get off that thing." Sterling muttered, rubbing her sides.

"I feel like I could fall over on even ground... are they all...?! People do this for fun?" Echo asked, eyes wide, he felt pretty sick too. He stumbled as he tried to walk, with Cody appearing at his side to keep him steady.

"Yep," Emily said with such dryness, the question of the intelligence of these people went without having to be spoken aloud. "Though, as I said to Kix, I think some people do it for the adrenaline rush."

Rex returned at that moment, a small roll of Menthos in his hand. He passed the roll to Emily, who handed it to Sterling.

"Thank you, Captain," Emily said, feeling oddly professional whenever she called him Captain instead of Rex.

Sterling tore it open, popped a few mints into her mouth and pushed herself to her feet. She seemed to have regained her equilibrium; she was always quick to bounce back. Emily relaxed a bit when she saw this, knowing it meant Sterling had recovered. Rex thought that these silent conversations reminded him of how Generals Skywalker and Kenobi interacted in the field, or after a Council session - silent understanding, and unquestioned understanding of each other. Always.

"Once everyone's collected themselves, how about we try a lower key ride..." Sterling began, waving around the park. There was much more to explore still ahead...of course...

"I wanna go on that one," Hardcase said. He was pointing at the Behemoth, the Leviathan's twin.

Emily facepalmed, muttered something about how she 'should have seen that coming', and sighed. "Lower key Hardcase!" She chastised. "Does that LOOK lower key? No, I was thinking something like the Wild Beast." She swept her gaze over the crowd of clones. "Can everybody walk? I'll lead the way."

Hardcase pouted and Sterling groaned quietly. On one hand, she didn't want to ride the Behemoth but on the other hand, she didn't want Hardcase to be disappointed.

"Alright Hardcase, I'll take you and anyone else who wants to join us on the Behemoth but after that, we are going on lower key rides or anything Emily wants to go one. Deal?" Sterling said

Hardcase and Fives both cheered loudly. Echo blanched. Rex and Cody looked amused, seeing their troops like this. Emily gave Sterling a slightly worried look which Sterling minutely waved off.

"Deal!" Hardcase said brightly.

"Okay then. Does anyone else want to come with me, Fives and Hardcase? Or will it be just me Fives and Hardcase."

Ponds put his hand up, there was no way he was leaving Sterling alone with those two. Emily giggled.

"I'm in," Boil said.

"Same here." Comet, Sinker, Boost, Warthog, Jesse, Thire, Jek, Rys, Stak and Razor said simultaneously. Emily looked at them like she couldn't comprehend any of them, before shrugging in resignation and turning her attention to her friend.

"Okay then, looks like Ponds, Boil and pretty much everyone else is in. Wolffe, Waxer, going to stay?" Sterling asked, turning towards the two that hadn't said anything yet.

"I like having my feet on solid ground," Wolffe replied, bemused by his fellow clone's antics.

"No thank you, one of those was enough!" Waxer said hotly, paling slightly at the thought.

"Alright then. Last call for anyone who wants to join us. Cody? Rex? What about you two?"

"I'll stay with Emily. Cody is still waiting for his stomach to settle." Rex said. Cody scowled and glared at Rex but didn't correct him; Emily giggled lightly though she tried to hide it. Sterling nodded and gave a small strained smile, she wasn't looking forward to this at all.

"Okay, see you guys in a bit." She gestured to the line for the Behemoth, "Come on guys."

Emily watched Sterling and the rest of the clones get in line. She shook her head and chuckled. "Hardcase is a bad influence."

"I know that better than you do... he's wired that one," Rex said.

"Heh... I suppose so." Emily was thinking about various episodes she had seen Hardcase in before...all this.

"I get the feeling Sterling isn't going on the Behemoth because she likes those things," Wolffe muttered.

"She was shivering pretty hard on the Leviathan... and out of everyone, I think she was screaming the loudest." Waxer said

"Yeah, but she doesn't want to disappoint Hardcase and the others. And neither do I, but no force on Earth would get me to ride one of those things." Emily said, waving one hand towards the sky.

"I think I speak for everyone when I say we figured that much from your reaction when Hardcase said he wanted to go on the Leviathan," Cody said.

Emily ran a hand through her hair, a little embarrassed. Her tendency to over the top phrases and speaking manners made her somewhat self-conscious; only her family didn't really bat an eye at it. "Hehehe... good."

"Are those things even safe?" Kix asked, watching as the ride drove up slowly, and then dropped too many screams.

"Yeah, they're perfectly safe." Emily said with a sigh, "They just don't look or feel it."

"Has anyone ever died on one of those things?" Rex asked, frowning

"There have been accidents, no technology is perfect... dammit, I should have offered to hold Sterling's glasses, she's mentioned people tend to have things fly away from them on the Behemoth... but serious accidents are few and far between."

"Why does she wear those?" Waxer asked, "Glasses I mean."

"It's for vision correction. She needs them to see everything clearly." Emily explained.

"Why can't she see?" Kix asked curiously.

Emily looked pensive as she considered her answer. "You know, I don't think I've ever asked. Most of my immediate family require glasses, so I don't usually think about it much."

"Can't she get surgery to correct the problem?" Kix asked

"You should ask her... look, here they come."

"Hey, guys. Emily, you were going to lead us to the Wild Beast?" Sterling asked, walking over with a mix of clones who were either happily chattering at each other or trying to pretend their knees weren't shaky.

She was still fairly pale, not as pale as she had been when she got off the Leviathan but still pretty pale. There was a slight tremor in her voice as she spoke and her voice was shaky. Her glasses were slightly askew. Emily was almost ready to ask if Sterling wanted to sit this one out and catch her breath but in the end, decided against it, if Sterling wasn't alright, she would have said something.

"Of course, this way everyone."

"Alright, let's go boys." Sterling reached up and adjusted her glasses, "I'm so glad these things stayed on. Unlike the guy in front of us who lost his phone. People tend to lose things on the Behemoth."

"Oh yeah."

"You guys have fun?"

"These rides are amazing," Hardcase said excitedly.

"Most of them are. The crazy ones are a bit much for me." Sterling looked around the park, "I'm also kind of glad the park is mostly empty today."

"Yeah, must be a slow day," Emily shrugged, not thinking much of it. Slow days did happen after all. Then she spied her ride and grinned, upped her pace. The line was short, too! "Aha! Here we are, all aboard!"

Everyone climbed into a car. Sterling ended up in a car with Kix and Jesse. Kix looked apprehensive about riding another roller coaster. Sterling noticed and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry Kix, this one isn't crazy like the Leviathan or the Behemoth," Sterling said gently.

Emily, who was sitting in front of Sterling with Cody, pulled Rex down into the seat in next to her.

"Yeah, this one's just fun. Once you get past the drop!" Emily said she was bouncing in her seat excitedly. She was thinking of her grade eight graduation trip when the girls she had been wandering the park with had convinced her to go on. There were good memories in this park.

"Why do these things have drops?" Rex asked to no one in particular as the cars slowly ascended to the peak.

"Nervous, oh fearless leader?" Emily said grinning at him, she wasn't about to admit she was nervous unless he did - and he was trained not to.

"I am not nervous," Rex said as the ride started up.

"If you say so!" Emily said, her sentence turning into a scream as the ride dropped

"Yahoo!" Sterling shouted

She could hear Fives and Hardcase cheering from the front car. Kix and Jesse were both laughing. When the ride was over and everyone had met up, Sterling said; "Well, that was fun."

Emily was laughing as she agreed with Sterling, "Yup!" She was a bit shaky, but overall she was beaming and energetic.

"The cars were rattling so much... I thought they were going to fall off the track!" Rex said, breathing heavily and shooting incredulous looks over his shoulder at the ride. It had reminded him of attacks on cruise ships.

Sterling had noticed the rattling and while it had been concerning, she had managed to put it behind her. Emily had too, but she figured that the rattling was part of the ride itself and the experience. It was WILD Beast after all.

"They should probably looking into that," Sterling muttered, "Where do we want to go next?"

"Vortex! Definitely the Vortex, that's another good one." Emily said with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, that's a good one."

"Vortex..." Kix said looking at Sterling a little nervously.

"Don't worry Kix, it's fun. Or do you want to sit this one out?" Sterling asked.

"I'm fine." The doctor insisted. "These ones aren't as bad as the first."

"Yeah, I don't like the big ones either," Sterling shook her head. "The only way people managed to get me on those things were promises of funnel cake and ice cream."

Emily grinned widely. "That's right, most of the food places here are buffets!" She winced slightly, "It's gonna hurt my wallet but hey, it'll taste good."

They had to stand in line for longer than at Wild Beast, but they didn't have to wait forever. Emily was climbing into her car as she said that, glancing back at Sterling who was in the car behind her. Rex and Cody had joined Emily in her car while Jesse and Kix climbed into Sterling's car. Emily could tell Rex wasn't happy that she was spending money on him but didn't say anything about it.

"I have some cash on me; I can grab people snacks after this if you want," Sterling said. She wanted to take some of the financial burdens off of her friend, even if it was buying snacks. The ride started up and Sterling sat back in her seat. "Here we go!"

"Another drop? They all start this way?" Rex asked somewhat plaintively.

"Yeah, it's the only way to get them moving fast enough for the ride to keep moving." Sterling explained, "That's about all I know, I don't really understand the physics."

Sterling had just finished her sentence as the ride dropped. Emily shrieked with laughter as the containers dropped. Sterling laughed loudly, her short hair whipping out behind her. Kix on the other hand; had grabbed Sterling's hand in surprise when the ride dropped thinking it was Jesse's.

"That's my hand Kix," Sterling yelled.

Kix let go, blushing a bit. Wrong person.

"You have a strong grip Kix," Sterling shrieked as the ride accelerated.

The cars hurdled over the water, tilting to the side. Emily was still laughing gleefully; "If I didn't know I would get in trouble, I'd reach out and try and touch the water!" She didn't let go of the handrail, instead leaning her head towards the glass wall of the ride box.

The ride ended shortly afterwards and everyone got off to regroup. Emily was pouting a little which made Rex look at her funny. Sterling pulled her grey headband out of her coat pocket, putting it on while asking, "Where do we want to go next?"

"I dunno... but I feel like snacks," Emily said, her stomach rumbling for emphasis.

"Snacks it is then. This way."

The group made their way towards buffets. Emily came back to the table that Sterling had snagged with a tray loaded with more brownies than is strictly healthy for one sitting. Sterling, who had been close behind her, came back with more pizza than one person should be able to eat. There was a bottle of soda balanced on her head, somehow staying upright as she walked. The clones blinked.

"Why do you have a bottle of Coke on your head?" Jesse asked, blinking.

"I needed two hands, I'm improvising," Sterling said by way of explanation, carefully setting her tray down.

"How are you keeping it balanced like that?" Ponds asked

"Practice. Lots of practice Commander." Sterling sat down next to him, "And some luck."

"Is that even healthy?" Kix asked pointing at Emily's plate. Sterling raised an amused eyebrow at her friend, who didn't look repentant in the slightest.

"Shh!. It's a secret." Emily chirped, grinning

"I'll take that as a no," Kix said, looking disapprovingly.

"I can neither confirm nor deny..." Emily trailed off suddenly, going rigid in her seat. She raised a hand and touched her forehead, her demeanour dissolving into dazed confusion. Sterling frowned, her friend's eyes seemed distant. She shot Kix a concerned look.

"I...huh...I got dizzy for a second there." Emily said faintly.

"Are you alright?" Kix asked, startled and concerned

"I...yeah. Just thought... thought I saw something for a few seconds."

That got Sterling attention, she frowned at her friend and asked; "What did you think you saw?"

"It..." Emily sighed, blinking a few times before shaking her head. "Nothing that made sense."

Sterling's frown deepened, this didn't sit well with her.

Emily dug into her brownies for about a minute before she stopped and frowned, staring at something only she could see. "Right, should go and get some pasta. Real food." She quickly got up and left the table.

"That's odd," Rex said.

Sterling stood up and followed her friend, she was getting to the bottom of this. She found Emily putting some pasta on a plate. Sterling placed her left hand on Emily's shoulder.

"There are no people over there. Let's talk over there." Sterling said

The brunette tensed and nodded in acceptance. "Okay."

Emily followed Sterling to an empty section of the buffet. Sterling leaned against a wall, as Emily placed her tray on a nearby table, pressing a hand against her forehead. That worried Sterling more; the more Emily messed with her hair, the more nervous she was.

"What happened?" Sterling asked

"It...was... I thought a Star Wars ship was flying over my head," Emily said. "A Star Destroyer."

Sterling jolted. "Were you in the park? Or were you somewhere else?"

"I'm not sure where I was...but it had a Star Wars look... maybe Coruscant? I...I don't know. It only lasted a few seconds."

"Okay...okay. That is...interesting."

Emily nodded in agreement. She would have used a stronger word than 'interesting', but for all, she knew she was imagining things due to hanging out with an RV full of clones. They returned to the buffet area, Sterling grabbing a tray for herself.

"Yeah, I blame it on dizziness and not having a proper breakfast at the moment. But...well... let's not worry the guys unless it's necessary."

"Okay, we keep this to ourselves, it could be stress or something else. Like what, I don't know. But if it happens again, let me know."

"Yeah." Emily grabbed the tongs for the pasta, "You want any of this?"

"Sure. What do you want to do once we've eaten?"

Emily thought about it for a minute. "You think they'd be any good at the carnival games?" She pointed at the clones. Sterling hummed as she thought about it.

"Probably, they're pretty strong and have good aim. You wanna test it out?"

"Should be fun." Emily finished piling up her plate, "Let's go suggest it."

"Alright, you want to ask or should I ask?"

"I'll ask, I don't want them worrying over a daydream." If it was just a daydream. But she didn't say that out loud.

"Alright."

The two girls returned to the table, Sterling taking her seat between Ponds and Cody. "Ask away my friend." She said, causing everyone to look curiously at Emily.

"So guys! New game plan, potentially." Emily crashed into her seat next to Rex, "You're all good shots, so how about we hit up the carnival games? Maybe this time we'll actually be able to win things!"

"What sort of games?" Fives asked intrigued

"All sorts of them. Um... shooting games, strength games, guessing games, accuracy games, whack-a-mole..." Sterling counted off each type of game on her fingers

Echo looked excited as did the rest of the clones.

"I'm pretty good at games that require memory work or games that have a pattern to them and whack-a-mole but everything else, I stink at. Especially grabber arm games, those are a nightmare," Sterling said.

"I suck at those toss games. I only ever won ONE toy from those." Emily said, pouting. "I've NEVER won a big doll, EVER."

Fives chuckled and shook his head. "I think we can fix that." He said with amusement.

"Yeah. We've got very good aim." Echo puffed proudly.

"Then let's eat and own those games," Emily said excitedly, before wolfing down more of her meal.

"Yeah!" Fives and Hardcase shouted happily; they had already finished.

Rex grinned and at that rare expression, Emily felt like she and Sterling had won him over.

"Those guys running the games won't know what hit 'em," Sterling said, grinning widely.

The group finished their food and headed off to the gaming section. There were more people there than in the ride section, though it was still less than the last time either had been at the carnival. Emily spotted the Whack-a-mole game and headed towards it. Waxer and Boil exchanged a look and ran after her.

Sterling saw what had caught her friend's eye and grinned; "This should be good. Who wants to go for a round of Whack-a-mole with me?"

Fives and Echo raised their hands. Emily had everything set up when Sterling, Fives and Echo joined her, Waxer and Boil. Sterling flipped her hammer in one and hand and cackled.

"Ready? GO!" she shouted

In the end, Waxer ended up winning, Sterling coming in at a close second with Emily close behind her. Sterling patted Waxer on the shoulder.

"Nice job Waxer. What prize do you want?" Sterling asked

Waxer blinked and looked up at the various prizes, he was surprised he won, Sterling was really good at the game. Emily was staring wistfully up at the giant Charmander doll. Waxer noticed Emily staring at the plushie and pointed at it.

"That's Charmander right?" Sterling asked Emily. She had never played Pokemon, though she knew her friend was a huge fan of the series.

"Yeah."

Waxer, upon receiving his prize, passed it to Emily. She blinked up at Waxer, surprised. "Eh?"

"I need both my hands to win more games." Waxer said by way of explanation, smiling at her.

Emily smiled in turn, a bit more shyly, mumbling 'thank you' and hugging the Charmander against her chest like a little girl. Sterling, having tossed a glance over her shoulder, let out a sharp snort. "Looks like someone is trying the grabber arm game."

She was watching with rapt attention as Rex played.

"Oh wow," Emily said, having looked up to see what was happening.

"Now that is some skill," Sterling remarked as the game played on.

"What can I say? Captain Rex is the ace." Fives said proudly

"You are aware those games are meant to be practically impossible to do right Fives?" Sterling asked, semi-rhetorically.

Fives shot her an incredulous look when the victory bell dinged and Rex claimed his prize. "Are you sure?" He asked

"It's the design of the game and the engineering of the arm and several other factors such as how wobbly the arm is and how much time you have to retrieve a prize." Sterling explained before adding "Congratulations Rex." when the Captain returned to their group.

"Thank you." The older clone looked unduly pleased with himself.

Where's Cody?"

Emily glanced around for a few seconds before her eyes fell on the nearest ring tossing game. "Getting acquainted with frustration, I believe," She commented.

Sterling looked where Emily was pointing and snorted. Cody was glaring at the board, he had managed to get one ring out of ten he had asked for on the board and he only had two left.

"Oh boy," Sterling said with a shake of her head, she'd been there before.

"Let's go see if we can help... if that's even possible," Emily said, her tone suggesting that she doubted it. "Makes me wish I was a Jedi. I could use the Force to help him win." She had a grudge against that game.

"Yeah, but right now we just got our arms. And Rex."

"Right. We have Rex."

Rex chuckled and shook his head, unsure what to make of the praise.

"Come on, let's go give Cody a hand," Sterling said.

The group joined Cody at the ring toss game. Rex proceeded to help Cody with some tips while Fives, Echo, Waxer, Boil, Sterling and Emily watched on. Eventually, the game was over and Cody had won a prize, he grinned smugly at the man running the game as the prize was handed over.

"Nice job you two," Sterling said patting Cody's shoulder. Emily settled for giving him a hugely impressed look.

Cody, who had one arm wrapped around his prize; a massive cat doll, looked rather disgruntled. "That was harder than I had anticipated," he grunted.

"It's the angle of the board, the size and the weight of the rings that make the game hard. Most people could win a small prize but if you're a little kid or someone with motor or mobility issues, the game can become practically impossible," Sterling explained.

"The park's visitors are mostly kids,"Boil pointed out

"There are easier games, but if you want the big dolls you have to get lucky or be really good," Emily said.

"I know, I've never managed to win at these games. They aren't easy," Sterling said.

"I've won a few. Nothing beats that feeling."

"Well, the feeling of victory is a nice one."

"It's a good feeling to get in mundane situations like this," Rex said.

Sterling looked at the ground, she didn't know what to say.

Emily caught the mood and tried to steer it elsewhere. "Oh look, it's one of those water race games!" She turned to the nearest clone and grinned, "Let's give it a try. Fives? You wanna race me?"

"Sure."

"I'll be cheering for you Emily," Sterling said.

"Awesome. This time, I'm gonna win."

"Have fun."

Emily flashed her friend a grin and sat down next to Fives. The race began and in the end, Emily won. She returned to the others, her Charmander doll under one arm and her new Zorua plushie under the other, smiling smugly.

"Good job Emily," Sterling said giving Emily a high five.

Fives looked rueful. "I seem to be losing my edge." He muttered, mock seriously.

Emily stuck her tongue out at him. "That was pure skill and you know it."

Sterling started laughing. "Yes Fives, that was some skill but Emily beat you fair and square."

Fives crossed his arms and pouted. Hardcase and Echo both snickered, while Waxer looked sympathetic. Ponds just seemed amused, and he watched Emily adjust her grip on the Zoura doll with a pleased gleam in his eyes. Sterling reached out and patted Fives's shoulder. "Don't worry Fives. You'll find someone to beat."

The group continued to wander, picking out games at random and watching the boys win. The clones kept collecting more and more toys, the booth people seemed to be getting a little flustered by the whole thing. Sterling was standing off to the side with Emily, one arm around the Gamora doll she won and one arm around the Wonder Woman doll Waxer won for her. She couldn't help but laugh at the booth people's faces every time one of the clones won a prize.

"It's almost as if they don't expect anyone to win at these," Fives observed as he showed off his Garfield plush.

Emily looked at the clones, watching them. Rex, Cody, Wolffe and Ponds seemed relaxed, which she didn't ever remember them being in the show. Hardcase and Echo had devolved into kids in a candy store kind of glee. Emily laughed, and explained, "They expect you to win once or twice – not as often as us."

"Oh yes. They don't expect victory more than once," Sterling said

"Especially not the big toys!"

"Nope, the big ones are wishful thinking."

"They shouldn't have invited the 501st then," Echo said fiercely.

"True Echo. Too true," Sterling said with a shake of her head.

The group trawled the games for another hour, picking up more prizes as they went. Eventually, Sterling noticed the sun had started to set.

"Oh jeez, it's late. We should get back on the road," Sterling said, catching everyone's attention.

The clones who were playing games finished up and collected their prizes. Then they started heading back to where Sterling had parked the RV. As they were crossing the parking lot, Emily said to Sterling:

"Heh, maybe we should have stolen a Greyhound bus after all – we'd not for certain we had enough for all the stuff."

"I can't drive a bus. I barely know how to drive an RV."

"I know, I know, I'm being funny," Emily hoisted the dolls again. "Maybe we should have at least stolen a shopping cart!"

"Maybe."

Rex rolled his eyes in amusement and took one of the stuffies that Emily was juggling.

"There will be room." He said. She beamed gratefully at him.

"You okay back there Waxer?" Sterling called back.

"Sure," Waxer called back.

He was carrying three giant dolls in his arms. Emily laughed;

"Help him out Boil."

"You want me to take one Waxer?" Sterling asked

"I'm good... really..." Waxer said weakly, he was having trouble seeing as he didn't want to ask for help carrying dolls.

"What do you think Boil, should we help him?" Sterling asked

Boil let out a huff, rolled his eyes and took one stuffie from Waxer. Waxer's shoulders slumped a bit because he saw a lot of teasing in his future. As did Sterling, she was going to nip that in the bud if she had too. She hated being teased. She squeezed Waxer shoulder softly.

"Hey, I won't let them tease you too much," She said

Waxer gave Sterling a small smile. The group arrived at the RV and piled in. Emily taking her place in the shotgun seat and Sterling taking her place in the driver's seat. Sterling turned the ignition and manoeuvred the RV out of the parking lot and back onto the highway. She flashed everyone a grin from the rear-view mirror.

"Next stop, northern Ontario. Otherwise known as Canada's second Arctic. Well, in my eyes at least," Sterling said.

"Yay," Emily said sarcastically. "I'm so glad we got winter coats... it's gonna be freezing."

"We won't go outside much," Sterling squinted at the dashboard. "We should probably stop soon though."

"Yeah. Hey Ponds, can you find a nearby rest stop?" Emily asked, passing Ponds the map

"Sure," He scanned the map for a minute. "There's one about... 20 kilometres away. Why do we need to stop if I may ask?" Ponds asked, looking up.

"Because Sterling needs sleep if she's gonna be driving all night," Emily said

"And we need gas and you guys should stretch out, use the bathroom and grab stuff to eat. The further away from the city we get, the fewer places there are to get food and use the bathroom," Sterling said

"That too."

"So when we get to the rest stop, I'll get gas and take a nap. You guys can do whatever you want, eat, sleep, whatever; just as long as you don't destroy anything or call attention to yourselves."

The clones looked affronted at the implications that they'd be so unprofessional. Though Rex was eyeing Fives and Hardcase.

"I trust you all. We'll be fine," Sterling said. "Shall I turn on the radio?

"Yes please," Rex said.

Sterling reached over and turned on the radio. Shake it off started playing from the speakers. Sterling lips twitched.

"Taylor Swift."

Emily giggled and pulled her headphones down around her neck. She hummed the intro beat, said 'shake it off' under her breath, and bounced slightly in her seat.

"I like this song," Fives said.

"It's a guilty pleasure of mine... it's catchy," Emily said.

"Really catchy," Sterling said.

Eventually, the song came to an end and a news report came on. Sterling's grip tightened on the wheel. Emily switched the station to a classical music station, not wanting her to worry while she was at the wheel. Sterling's grip relaxed.

"Thank you."

"No problem. Hey, I had an idea for a story..." Emily pulled out her laptop and opened it. The thought had come to her during the games...

"You write?" Cody asked, surprised.

"Yeah. We both do actually. It's a hobby," Sterling said. "Tell me about the story."

Emily smiled, then adopted a storyteller's voice; an imitation of Cate Blanchett's tone during the opening of the first Lord of the Rings movie. "In which, in the far, far future, a petty border war is interrupted by aliens fleeing an evil empire..."

"Ooh. What happens next?" Sterling almost immediately interrupted. Emily pondered that for a moment before the answer came to her.

"The aliens trans-warp drive is damaged and they're in a hurry to fix it and continue their journey. They've been fleeing this enemy for generations beyond counting. Humanity, of course, is torn between xenophobes, people who want the alien's tech and those who want to know what they're running from."

"What are they running from?" Ponds asked.

"A tyrannical empire that has ruled the distant universe since the since time immemorial... these aliens spearheaded the only successful rebellion against them in living memory, but tragedy and the empires ruthlessness has forced them to flee for their lives."

"That empire sounds kind of like the Separatists," Rex remarked.

"Well, sort of," Emily said with a serious look. "This empire had never suffered obedience to anyone but themselves."

"Yeesh. So, what else happens?"

"Humanity has lived so far from them, they have never known their cruelty. Some of the aliens are impatient; a remnant that they may be, but their technology is stronger than humanity's and buried on the Moon is an element desperately needed to fix their warp drives."

A pause as Emily takes a breath.

"Who fires the first shot is unclear. But the aliens – Zandred – claim the moon in short order after a terrible one-sided battle."

"Why did the battle start?"

"No one's certain. At first. It took a while for people to dig past the propaganda"

"At first?"

"Was the first shot deliberate?" Cody asked

"One man from one side of the human border conflict attempted to impress one of the smaller ships of the alien fleet. He assumed it carried supplies and munitions. Instead, it carried civilians; families and children. One of the Zandred Admiral Board responded to this with extreme prejudice."

"Uh oh." Cody paled rapidly at the implication.

"The civilians were killed?" Ponds asked, sickened at the concept.

"Not many. But that was more than the admirals were willing to tolerate; the one who ordered the retaliation was deaf to pleas that it was a misunderstanding. The sheer intensity of his retaliation was... somewhat disproportionate."

"Let me guess, the retaliation killed more civilians than the first shot did?" Thire asked

"Not by design. The Zandred, due to exclusively living on spaceships, are very organized for lacking a better word. There are no civilians on board ships meant for the military. They assumed that this was the same thing for humanity. One very young soldier discovered this was not the case when he found a dying civilian woman half buried in the rubble. He attempted to help her and call off the bombardment, but the damage had already been done."

"Oh no."

"Humanity's government must not have liked that." Ponds said, emotion colouring his voice

"Yes. Many among humanity feared that the Zandred were merely taking the first step to becoming their new overlords... yet it still took them a year of fighting, and loosing, to put aside the petty border dispute and face their new opponents united.

"You mean that the ones fighting over a border were unable to come together to fight against the Zandred for over a year." Cody relayed disbelievingly

"Unbelievable," Jek muttered.

"Dare I ask what this border dispute was about?" Echo asked

"That's "national pride" for you. It was a matter of zoning that the Queen and the Prime Minister of humanity's two biggest factions got into a disagreement about," Mirth coloured Emily's voice as she said that. "Anyway... what humanity discovered is that the Zandred have psychic powers; for the more talented among them, that included combat precognition."

"That sound handy," Wolffe said.

"It is. And their greatest weapons – massive golems humanity calls Jeagers – are dependent on those powers to work to full capacity. One day, however, a human girl of about 13 climbs into a fallen Jaeger and takes control of it. This is Maria, humanity's first known psychic."

"How do both sides take that news?" Sterling asked

"Well, the queen immediately adopts her and makes her their figurehead... the other side, however, is trying to reverse engineer the Jaeger tech with mixed results. One of the test pilots is a young man named Aiden."

Another pause.

"Once the news does become public, the Queen arranged for Maria to go to the testing facility both as a gesture of good will and to see if they can finally bring better weapons to this losing struggle."

"How well does that work?"

"It works fairly well, actually. Aiden may be cold to anyone he doesn't care about, he essentially adopts Maria and looks out for her, especially when they fight battles side by side. Aiden is a Dead Zone, as it turns out. Basically, he is unaffected by psychic powers when he enters a certain state of mind. It makes him very dangerous."

"How come the psychic powers don't work on him?" Rys asked

"Something happens during a battle that makes him become unreadable. The Zandred themselves can only speculate; at first. They've never seen anything like that."

"What are some of the Zandred's theories?" Kix wondered

"Well, the Admirals decide they need a new strategy. In this case, planted agents. There's enough physical resemblance between Zandred and Humanity that with the help of holographic bracelets, they could pass for humans," Emily paused. "It helps that they are...physically similar to humanity. There's a reason for that, but I don't want to give it away just yet."

"Well, Aiden and Maria are sent to review new recruits. There are at least six more than were expected...and at least one of them is a spy. Who among these people is actually one of the Zandred's most capable warriors? Is it Aria, who is cynical and temperamental and distains High Command? Is it Fay, so quiet and meek and wracked by guilt over something in her past she refuses to explain? Or is it Zavier, who is loyal and kind and befriends Aiden within the first month?"

"How does that happen?" Echo asked, " You mentioned Aiden was cold around people he doesn't care about."

"Yeah, that's somewhat out of necessity; Aiden's father is an important General and politician so most people try and get to him – one way or another – just to advance themselves. It left Aiden rather jaded. But he and Zavier quickly find that they have much they agree on; Aiden is interested in Zavier's selfless side while Zavier is fascinated by Aiden's endurance. That's the best I can describe it." Emily took a breath. "Aiden, at one point tells Zavier that he's glad to have someone he can be close to because he doesn't want to burden Maria with his baggage. He says that he mostly fights in this war because he wants to know why his mother – who was far warmer to him than his father, the only person whose affection he never doubted – had to die. His mother. Who died on the moon. In the original Zandred attack"

"Oh Gods," Cody muttered.

Sterling cringed. "Ooh, man... The poor kid. At least he has someone to confide in."

"I wonder what the spy will think if they feel anything for their 'comrades' at all when they learn of that..." Fives muttered.

Emily winced and nodded grimly. "I'm gonna need hot chocolate when writing that passage. He's going to find out." She closed her eyes. "He'll be distraught, him and Maria both..."

There was a quiet moment in the RV as clones and girls alike pictured the scene in their heads. "What should one be loyal to first? To country? To their family? To their friends and the ones they love? To an ideal? To the future?" Emily shrugged. "I designed it so people would wonder before I offer an answer late in the text. Needless to say, all this makes diplomacy awkward later in the series."

"No kidding," Sterling snorted

"What changed to make Humanity and the Zandred to be more diplomatic?" Echo asked

"Yeah... all because an empire scout ship appeared after the first cease-fire between the two sides. Our spies, now a Colonel and a Commandant, argue that they should – if not straight up take Humanity with them as atonement – warn them exactly what's coming and give them the means to escape themselves. And guess who's in the diplomat party? Aiden AND Maria, who they love (to different extents). The Empire's scout ship means their forces are catching up again..."

Kix took a breath. He'd almost forgotten the reason the aliens were in the Milky Way. "An Empire scout ship...that isn't good."

"Yeah. This finally causes Zandred to reach out to humanity on an equal level finally explain their whole history and WHY everyone had been so trigger-edged before. The whole time, one spy feels Aiden's eyes burning into him."

"Why were the Zandred all trigger-edged?" Waxer wondered, having seen something he thought was a problem. "Wouldn't it have been wiser to ally with humanity from the start and simply ask for repairs and assistance?"

Emily shook their head slightly. "They needed to fix their warp drive. They weren't sure if the Empire would catch up right away or not, they thought they had to keep running or be destroyed."

"Which lead to a giant misunderstanding that got a lot of people killed."

"Part misunderstanding, part reckless greed. Both sides acted poorly in the heart of the moment. It got out of control fast, that's for sure. But the direness of this situation cannot be denied. And near the end of the meeting, questions flying everywhere, Aiden speaks for the first time and flatly asks something that silences the room."

"What did he ask?"

"What's the point of running?" Emily quoted.

"That would shut up a room. What was the given answer?"

"We cannot win."

Emily took a breath. "Aiden doesn't say anything to that for a few minutes. He merely looks contemplative. Then he says, "is that so," and leaves the room."

"Didn't the Zandred try and put up a fight?" Rex asked, unsure why these tactically intelligent aliens were literally crossing multiple galaxies to get away rather than face their enemy as they were doing themselves.

"At first yes. Their rebellion was the first and only one to damage the Empire. But the retaliation they suffered in turn... they had to flee."

"What happened?" Jesse asked

"Nearly successful genocide happened. The Empire has a number of psychic super weapons."

"What kind of super weapons?" Wolffe asked

"They call it Angel Halo. It's kind of a sick irony that name, because what it does is they strap a thousand psychics in to serve as batteries and the attack the minds of their targets until they either cause permanent brain damage, or the victim commits suicide."

The silence that filled the RV at those words was deafening.

"Oh my God. That's horrible," Sterling said, aghast

"Yeah... that's ONE of their weapons," Emily chuckled dryly. "Of course, that doesn't account for something the Empire is far too arrogant to believe exists. Dead Zone."

"Aiden," Sterling concluded

"Exactly – oh woah! Isn't that our stop coming up?!"

Sterling looked ahead and sure enough, the rest stop was coming up.

"Yep. That's our stop. Just let me get off the highway and we can stop."

"Snacks sound really good! Wow, monologuing makes me thirsty." Emily smiled. All the clones looked a little disappointed they wouldn't be hearing more of this story; Waxer and Boil in particular.

Sterling moved the RV off the highway. She was getting better at highway driving. The transition from the highway to the ramp off the highway was far smoother than the first time she tried to get off the highway. She pulled in front of the doors to let everyone out.

"And we're off the highway. I'll refill the gas tank and then park in the RV parking zone and take a nap. I think two hours will do the trick," Sterling said

"Right! Let's get the good stuff guys."

"Have fun guys, I'll be in here if you need me."

"Think she'll be okay with only two hours of sleep?" Kix asked quietly

Emily hopped out of the RV, her computer tucked under one arm, with Rex and Kix right behind her. She glanced back at her friend who was waiting patiently for everyone to hop out and frowned slightly.

"I hope so. She may need extra coats or something to sleep well."

"Razor, Stak, leave your coats in here for Sterling," Ponds said

The two troopers did so, leaving their jackets on their chairs. Once everyone was out of the vehicle, Sterling pulled into the gas station. Only remembering watching her parents fill a gas tank, Sterling followed her memories. She headed inside to pay, remembering that bank account can be tracked. She paid quickly and left the register. She climbed back inside the RV and spotted the jackets. She parked in an empty spot and climbed into the back. She folded up Stak's jacket into a pillow, her own jacket would serve as a blanket for her legs while she put on Razor's jacket. She put on her headphones and let her Sun album knock her out.

Back with Emily, the group of twenty-one people walked inside.

"Think we should get her something for when we start driving again?" Waxer asked

"Yeah. Maybe hot chocolate, or something else that has a little pick-me-up to it," Emily said.

"Whiskey maybe?" Hardcase asked

Emily made a face at him. "We're not old enough, and even if we were I'd rather she not drink and drive. Not safe. I think I'm liking hot chocolate."

"What is hot chocolate? I've never heard of it," Kix said

Emily's step faltered and she balked at him, eyes wide. "You've never had – oh Lord – this way, quickly! I'll show you."

The clones followed Emily, who was dragging Kix by the forearm into the – fairly – long line up at Tim Hortons.

"Is hot chocolate a drink of some kind?" Boost asked

"It's only one of the best drinks ever!"

"I'll take your word for it," Sinker said

"You don't have to," Emily said

Eventually, the party of twenty-one got to the register. Emily took the lead. "We'll take twenty-two hot chocolates, forty assorted timbits..." She glanced at the clones and let them order snacks for themselves

Rex, Cody and Hardcase ordered vanilla dip donuts, Emily, Ponds, Stak and Thire ordered fruit explosion muffins, Jek, Rys, Wolffe and Comet ordered double chocolate muffins, Kix and Jesse ordered croissants, Waxer, Boil, Fives and Echo ordered chocolate chip muffins and Sinker, Boost, Warthog and Razor ordered Boston cream donuts. As the cashier was pulling up the total, he asked Emily:

"Are you having a party miss?"

"Star Wars party. We're on our way to one, actually!" Emily said brightly. She found that her acting was far more natural then her acting back in the shoe store. Probably because she felt more relaxed.

"Clone Wars themed miss?"

"Yup! It's the best show after all."

The cashier squinted at Emily. "Have I seen you before Miss? You look familiar."

"I don't think so, I haven't been this way for a while," Emily lied.

Behind her, Rex tensed slightly.

"But I know I've seen you before." The cashier said

Emily chuckled nervously. "That's funny..."

It suddenly hit her like a runaway train, she never took off the sweater she had on when she and Sterling had robbed the mall. The cashier shook his head. "I might be imagining things. Here's your order, have a nice evening Miss."

"Thank you," Emily said, still smiling.

She paid quickly and proceeded to get out of the building. The clones followed close behind her.

"Damn it. That was close," She muttered

"You think he recognized you?" Cody asked

"It's possible. Damn it, maybe. We need to check the news. Here guys, hold the food... this place had WiFi, gimme a sec..."

Emily sat down on the chilled sidewalk and pulled open her computer. Her fingers flashed across the keyboard as she went online.

"Well?" Rex asked

Emily stiffened violently and jerked back. "Shit. Shitshitshitshit."

The clones gathered around, trying to see over her shoulder.

Emily was staring at a news article with a video clip at the top of the page. It was surveillance footage of her, Sterling and the clones bolting across the parking lot and jumping into the RV.

"What is it?" Boil asked, tensed.

But Emily's mind was elsewhere, all her focus was on the grainy footage. They had been caught on film.

"Emily? Hey Emily... Jesse, go get Kix. Now!" Waxer said urgently

"Look! We were taped leaving the scene! I should've figured there would be cameras in the parking lot too," Emily scanned the article and the video again. "Oh good, they didn't see out faces, shit, what if mom saw this?"

By that point, Emily was starting to hyperventilate. Kix got down on his knees and gently placed his hands on Emily's, he needed to calm her down.

"Emily, breathe with me. Everything's gonna be okay. We won't let them take you or Sterling. I promise," Kix said firmly and using his medic voice.

And he meant it, neither he nor his brothers would let anything happen to the two girls who had helped them. Emily closed her eyes and gave a tiny nod, her breathing starting to slow down.

"Need hot chocolate. Please," Emily said

"Here," Kix said passing her the drink

"Thank you," Emily said before taking a drink and glancing up at the clones. "You guys can try yours too."

The clones picked up their drinks and took tentative sips.

"Should we leave?" Waxer asked

Emily shook her head. "Sterling needs more rest if she's gonna drive through the night. We just need to act natural. That guy did brush it off at the end. We can't hang around too long but we can't afford to bolt."

"Do we even tell Sterling about this?" Ponds asked

"...Not right away. She'll panic, I'm pretty close to panicking. We'll have to tell her eventually but it can wait... unless police cars start showing up."

"I get the feeling her mental state isn't a very stable one," Wolffe said.

Emily laughed flatly, no humour in her voice. "Neither of us are very good with stress."

"What happens if police cars start showing up?" Cody asked

"It means we have to tiptoe quietly out of here or if they're onto us, we'll need a new strategy. Luckily, they didn't get shots of our faces or a good look at the RV, plus Sterling changed the license plates."

"That's good at least," Fives said.

"What do we do if Sterling figures out that there was a video taken of us leaving the mall? She's not stupid," Echo pointed out.

"We tell her before she sees anything, or else she'll be scared AND she'll be mad at us, I say, we tell her at the next rest stop," Emily finished her hot chocolate. "My muffin please."

"Here," Rex said passing her the treat.

"Can I ask what Sterling's like when she's scared and when she's mad?" Ponds asked

"Thanks," Emily took the muffin. "I've never personally seen her mad, not seriously angry. I've seen her scared; she turns in on herself."

"What do you mean?" Ponds asked

"She doesn't say much, she shakes, she can't fall asleep."

"You've seen her like that before?" Waxer asked

"Once or twice," Emily checked her watch. About an hour had passed. "Come on, let's head back to the RV."

Emily didn't want to say she and Sterling had been scared to help them at first.

"Should we get her something?" Ponds asked

"I got her hot chocolate," Emily raised the unopened cup. "Don't worry."

"Should we grab snacks?" Fives asked

Emily laughed and passed Fives some cash. "You guys do that, I'll meet you back at the RV."

Emily headed back to the RV while the clones went inside. She found two jackets on one of the beds but no Sterling. She found Sterling wrapped up in Razor's coat, in the front seat. Her eyes distant as she stared out at the horizon. She didn't turn to look at Emily when her friend sat down.

"Is it time to go?" Sterling asked

"Almost. The guys are getting snacks. Here, this is for you," Emily said passing Sterling the hot chocolate. "Good nap?"

"Thank you," Sterling said taking the cup and sipping the liquid. "And it was a nice nap up until things got... funny."

"Funny..." Emily tensed

"Yeah, I had this wacky dream. And I haven't been able to get back to sleep since" Sterling said with a shrug.

"Define wacky. We talking skyscraper-sized cheesecake?"

"No. While I have dreamed of that before, this was different. It felt too real."

Emily looked out the windshield for a minute before speaking again. "Did you see a starship?"

"Yeah. One Republic cruiser and an Imperial Star Destroyer. Why?" Sterling asked

"Just like I did," Emily sat back in the shotgun seat. Her hands were shaking and she pressed her back against the chair in a vain attempt to steady herself. "What does this all mean? We have an RV full of clones. This can't mean nothing."

"I don't know. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

Sterling took a deep breath. "In the days before the clones arrived, did you ever feel like... I don't know... that something was coming?"

Emily pondered her answer. "I... kind of felt nervous when I woke up the morning before I came over to your place. Like I was anticipating something."

"Me too. What about when we were at the park, did you feel like there was... I don't know how to define it... like something was racing through your veins and across your skin?"

"I can't really remember the sensation – so much has happened since then – but I think I did."

"What does this all mean; a feeling of anticipation before we meet up, a strange sensation that happens when we go to the park, the clones and now those ships... what's happening?"

"The Force," There was a beat of silence that met Emily's instant pronouncement. "It's the fucking Force. What else gives people premonitions?"

"You mean... we might be... Force-sensitive?"

"I don't know!" Emily's voice had become slightly hysterical.

"Well, shit!"

Emily buried her face in her hands and whined.

"Okay... okay... okay... okay... we can handle this... I hope," Sterling shook her head. "We're fucked. We're fucked!"

"It's the only thing that makes sense, oh god why?"

"Yeah. But why us? Why would the Force chose us of all the people on this planet?"

"I don't know!" Emily shouted. "We're so fu- wait." Something occurred to her, cutting through her current panic. Her eyes widened into disks. "If we're Force-sensitive, hypothetically at least, can the Jedi sense us?"

"Maybe... but I get the feeling that if the Jedi could sense us, they would have come here by now," Sterling said grimly. "Is there something else bothering you?"

"If they can sense us, maybe HE can sense us...!" Emily had to swallow over a lump in her throat.

Sterling didn't have to ask who "he" was, she had a decent guess of her own.

"Think about it - they're at war and most of Earth don't know they're real. Maybe they're just... well... far, far away." Emily said, mostly thinking aloud. "And if the clones are real, HE is real...!"

"True, we might be too far away for them to pick up on our Force signatures. If we even have them."

"Damn it, I shouldn't have said that!" Emily gasped.

"Why?"

"Is something wrong?" It was Rex, standing in the doorway of the RV. Just seeing him caused the girls to calm down; it was the presence he radiated.

"Nothing. Just making myself panic over a thought." Emily glanced at Rex, "You guys done?"

"No. Everything is fine Rex. There is nothing wrong." Sterling said

Rex nodded slowly, it was obvious he was not convinced but said nothing. He climbed into the RV, taking his seat with Kix, who was right behind Rex, right behind Emily. The rest of the clones piled in, arms full of chips, cookies and candy bars.

"Did everyone use the bathroom?" Sterling asked, "Cause if you haven't, you're doing it on the side of the road."

There was a jolt of laughter and a general confirmation that they were ready to go.

"Alright, let's rock and roll."

Emily began singing We Are The Champions as Sterling pulled out of the parking lot and merged onto the highway. Sterling started singing along instantly. A couple of lines in and Fives, Hardcase and Waxer joined in with the singing. Echo and the Wolfpack joining in a few minutes later.

And there they were headed down the road, singing along to Queen. Mid-way through We Will Rock You, Sterling heard music that wasn't Queen.

"Emily, is that your phone?" Sterling asked

Emily glanced down, pulled the small device out of her pocket and swore in the little Japanese she knew from watching a lot of anime. Sterling shot her friend a concerned look.

"...It's mom."

The clones all fell silent. Emily took a deep breath and answered.

"Oh shit." Sterling breathed

"Hey, mom!" The brunette's face was at odds with her voice. She looked like someone desperately trying to win at Poker. "... Yeah, it's – it's been going pretty well actually. My neighbours are dicks though, they kept partying until after two in the morning. Wha? Will I be home this weekend? Um... g-geez, I'd like to but I wanted to see how long I could manage. You know, t-test for adulthood. Y-yeah, I'll ask around... Yup, love you too."

Emily turned off her phone and buried her face in her knees. "She's gonna be mad. And disappointed. And so, so mad."

Sterling reached out and patted her friend on the shoulder. Fives did the same, trying to soothe her. After a moment of thought, he passed her one of the dolls they had won; Emily took it and pressed it against her chest.

"It'll be okay," Sterling whispered.

Emily grabbed Sterling's hand and squeezed it, seeking reassurance. That was when Sterling felt her phone in her pocket start vibrating.

"Oh no."

She knew exactly who it was and so did Emily.

"We can't pull over." The brunette said, trying to stay calm for Sterling's sake. "Hand it to me?"

"Here..." Sterling passed her phone to Emily, "It's my mom."

"Wish me luck," Emily said. She hit Talk. "Hello."

Sterling could hear her mother:

"Emily? Where's Sterling?"

"Having a shower." Emily lied; it was the first thing that came to mind. "Shall I pass her a message?"

"I can wait."

Sterling pursed her lips, her mother knew. Emily cast Sterling a nervous glance mouthing: "What should I say?".

"Put the phone on speaker," Sterling said sharply.

Emily nodded and did as Sterling said, not entirely sure what her friend was up too. Then a horrible idea entered her head. Sterling wasn't about too...

"Mom, I want you to listen to me. Whatever you hear on the news, whatever you see in the papers or on TV, don't blame yourself for it. Don't think of it as something you did wrong, think of it as something you did right." Sterling said, voice sharp and commanding.

Emily's head jerked violently at her friend, what was Sterling doing?

"What? What's that supposed to mean?" Sterling's mother demanded. "Sterling, are you in trouble?"

"I'm not in trouble. But things are going to be really complicated." Sterling said, "I'm losing the connection. I'm sorry. I love you, mom."

And without another word, Sterling reached over and hung up. Sterling pressed down hard on the gas pedal, face blank, eyes forward, shoulders tense and her mouth set in a straight line. Rex, Cody and Ponds all stared at her, their mouths open. None of the clones were sure what to say; none of them had normal parents, the closest they had were their brothers, and that was the metric they used to know how distressing this was. Emily turned off Sterling's phone. Sterling sighed and her shoulders slumped.

"I know they saw us leave the mall. It was all over the radio." Sterling closed her eyes, "I'm sorry Emily. I shouldn't have gotten you involved in all this."

Emily bit her lip, hugging the Zorua. "I got myself involved Sterling. Don't apologize," If she was actually upset with anyone, it was herself, but she wasn't going to say that aloud and make Sterling any more upset.

"The cops know who we are Emily. They know who we are."

Emily hit her head against her seat when she figured out why her mother had called. "Then mom wanted to see if I was lying to her. God, she's never going to trust me again."

"Yeah. Mom was doing the same thing with me. I just knew," Sterling took a deep breath, "I wasn't about to let her think my actions were her fault."

"We're sorry Sterling, Emily. You did this to help us," Rex said sombrely.

"Once we can contact the Generals, we'll have them intercede for you," Cody said

Sterling sighed and glanced back at the guilty looks on the clones' faces.

"Rex, don't apologize, Emily and I knew the risks and what the consequences would be when we decided to help you," Sterling said sharply. "Cody, as much as I want to believe it's possible, contacting your Generals... our tech isn't strong enough and the Voyageur 1 satellite can't be hacked."

"You shouldn't' have had to," Rex said.

"It's not a question of pf shouldn't have Rex, it was a question of what was right," Sterling said sharply

"She's right. Doing the right thing..."

"They're looking for us. The Jedi can sense people anywhere in the galaxy. They will come to us," Cody said firmly

"Well, I hope you're right Cody. And I hope that if they are coming, that they use discretion when coming here. Because NASA and the ISS will go batshit crazy when either the Resolute or the Negotiator drop out of hyperspace right into orbit," Sterling said, mirth crawling into her voice.

Emily giggled helplessly. "You know? I almost kind of want to see that," She said

"I would too. But I'm more worried about what would happen if the American government, the Russian government or the North Korean government got their hands on that kind of firepower. Then we'd all be fucked like ducks."

"They'd have to overpower the visitors to "get their hands on it." I'll make popcorn for their attempts," Emily said, managing a smile at the thought.

Rex chuckled darkly because if anything, that undersells Anakin's vindictive side.

"True, we'd get quite the show," Sterling said.

"Let's hope they get here soon," Emily said looking up at the sky.

Sterling tossed her friend a smile. "Let's hope so. Now, who's up for another round of stolen RV karaoke?"

"Sterling!" Emily groaned as Sterling cackled her head off.

And that is that. I hope you all enjoyed and enjoyed your holidays. A big shout out and thank you to my best friend TheGirlWithFarTooManyIdeas for all her help with the dialogue and some scene bits. Be sure to check out her stuff. As always, read, like and review. I'll see you all next time. Later, Dana.