A lot of people seemed to believe that Lieutenant Barricade had anger problems.
Barricade's battle worn hands ghosted over his blaster, taking it apart and reassembling it over and over and over with the skill that only came from repeated practice.
The captain had spoken to him on more than one occasion about his 'anger'. But Barricade still failed to see what they meant. Sure he got mad but he had a right. With everyone and everything in the whole kriffin galaxy acting like chaakars why WOULDN'T he be angry? It was guys like Ben, who NEVER got angry, that Barricade worried about. If they didn't assert themselves they would get stepped on… and squished.… like insignificant bugs…..
The Lieutenant shook his head. He had learned long ago not to let people push him around. And he'd be damned if he let his brothers get stepped on.
So ya, he didn't like the little bloodsucker sitting in front of him, talking to Ben.
Barricade never liked users. (He'd met his fair share of them in his short life. They were bad news.) And he didn't want this… chaakar taking advantage of the fact that his little brother didn't know how to stand up for himself.
Even back on Kamino, he just let himself get walked on…' Barricade would never understand Ben, or his borderline pacifist methods. But one thing was for sure, is that bloodsucker so much as breathed wrong in the medic's general direction… Barricade would shoot her.
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The so called bloodsucker...had similar thoughts. She kept both eyes close on both men.
She didn't trust the one with the blaster for obvious reasons
She kind of trusted the medic but was a little edgy because of the Mando'a woman's...entrance.
The medic kept on asking her different questions, questions that were making her even more edgy. Questions that she wasn't very keen on answering. But she knew he was just doing his job. She found she was distracting herself with his pretty hair. It was so white and pretty, it almost reminded her of one of her sister's, Snowdrop's, soft white hair. For one reason or another, it was making her relax slightly and answer his questions a little more easily when she thought of it like that. She was keeping her hands in between her knees, though, so that she wasn't tempted to pet it like she was used to doing with her sister.
She had a feeling she'd get a blaster bolt through her hand before she could touch him.
Her eyes flickered for the umpteenth time to the blaster in the man's hands. He kept disassembling it and reassembling it. A trick. An intimidation technique that was used to say he knew how to use thee blaster and he wasn't scared to. Marishka was used to. She was long since used to it, she didn't even flinch.
The ward was too quiet so she began rocking back and forth on the table and a song came to her head and made her start to hum. Then she began to sing under her breath:
Wherever you go,
Whatever you do...
I will be right here waiting for you...
Her eyes shut as the emotions assaulted her and a small smile graced her lips.
Whatever it takes,
Or how my heart breaks,
I will be right here
Waiting for you
Barricade glared harder at the girl. What was she doing? Probably a distraction to keep them occupied from the inevitable attack. Ben, unfortunately, didn't share his insight.
"Where'd you learn that song," he asked, tilting his head slightly.
Curiosity killed the nexu...
But the bloodsucker didn't answer
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She kept her eyes closed as she savored the tune on her tongue. It was like warm, melted, rich chocolate to her. Addicting and she wanted more. It was the only thing to help her remember. The face, the eyes, the smile, the voice...everything. Instead of the song being a bitter reminder, it was a sweet memory that she kept playing over and over. It didn't matter where she was nor did it matter who gave her strange looks. It was HER memory to savor, not theirs. HER memory to keep close to her and cherish until the day she fell from the sky.
A question interrupted her.
Her eyes snapped opened and she stared at the medic as she tried to process what he asked.
"My sister, Skye...she taught me it," she answered quietly. Ben nodded smiling, he gestured to himself and the armed clone staring at them intently.
"We never sang much aside from Mando'an drinking songs."
Marishka found it hard to imagine the mild mannered medic raising a beer and taking part in the screaming match she knew those songs usually included.
The medic chuckled softly. "Though the only one of us who could ever carry a tune was Rhythm."
He studied her for a moment with soft eyes, "Sorry." He shook his head turning back to examine some piece of medical equipment. "I shouldn't have interrupted you."
"No...it's alright...no one outside of us ever bothered to ask before," she paused, her head tilted slightly,"It's sweet." She took a breath and continued:
I wonder how we can survive
But in the end
If I'm with you
I'll take the chance!
Wherever you go,
Whatever you do,
I will be right here
Waiting for you.
Whatever it takes,
Or how my heart breaks
I will be right here
Waiting for you!
Barricade watched with mild disgust as Ben blushed lightly at the complement. The medic didn't have a lot of experience with females aside from General Lunar, but come on, couldn't he see she was playing him?
Before Barricade could get to far in his mental tirade the door to the med bay slide open and a trooper stepped in, bald, with the detailed image of a mountains peak, etched into the back of his scull with tattoo ink.
"Ledge?" Ben looked up in mild surprise, though it was not shone in his voice. He tilted his head to the side in slight concern. "Your head isn't bothering you again is it?"
Ledge shook his head, rolling his eyes. "That stopped mouths ago, it was no big deal."
"Having continual headache's every day for 2 months after a concussion is actually quite worrisome." Ben informed him patiently.
Ledge rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say doc," he instead turned to the lieutenant. "Barricades needed in the gym. I'm supposed to relive him of guard duty." There was a bemused look on the troopers face.
Barricade grunted, standing from his seat and sending one last weary glare in the bloodsucker's direction. He leaned in close to Ledge.
"Watch her," he hissed. "She's a tricky one."
Ledge grinned smugly. "Whatever you say brother."
Barricade glared at him before turning and exiting the med bay.
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Marishka stopped singing and stared at the new trooper. Her eyes grew to the size of two small platers at the tattoo on the back of the new trooper's, Ledge's, head. It was BEAUTIFUL! She had never seen the mountains before, but she had heard plenty of what they looked like. She crouched on the bed she was on and strained to get a better look at the tat, looking for all like a baby nexu who had just spotted a new toy filled with nexu nip-nip. Ledge chuckled clearly catching her look and turning around to give her a better view of the tattoo.
"Like it?"
She nodded vigorously. "Yes."
He laughed again. "Got it on my first mission to 'Fest'. It's a mountainous world, beautiful really." A found smile crossed his lips. "Guess you could say I fell in love with the view."
Ben shook his head. "I remember that mission." He smiled calmly. "It was the reason for that concussion of yours."
Ledge rolled his eyes. "It was worth it." he smirked. Marishka leapt lightly onto a computer head, not easy to do with her long dress but she did it as graceful as a doe, to get closer to the trooper. She curved down so that she was a bit closer to him, but out of a possible close range weapon.
"What were they like," she whispered, her wide green eyes riveted to his face," The mountains...what were they like?" She couldn't keep out the longing out of her voice and her face showed sadness that made her look that much more beautiful. Her eyes were glazed over as she thought about the mountains. But she knew she'd never be able to see them as a free woman. She had come to accept that harsh truth a long time ago. But that didn't stop her from dreaming.
He smiled, a far away look coming into his eyes. "Standing on the peak of the mountain. You can look out and see nothing but peak after peak, a dash of green here, purple there." He sighed closing his eyes, cherishing the memory for all it was worth.
"Standing on the edge of a cliff side with the force of gravity trying to suck you down, the pushing you away... it almost feel's like flying." His smile widened.
"My brothers think I'm crazy for it. They thought it was to cold to enjoy anything, well except Freeze, he loved the place as much as I did, though to be honest I think he just liked the snow." Ledge shook his head, opening his eyes to look at her. She was standing up straight now, her head tilted upwards towards the ceiling,...and her eyes were shut while she tried to visualize the images he was describing. The sadness in her face was replaced with a bittersweet look.
Her eyes opened and teardrops came down freely
"I...I've always dreamed...," her voice was barley a whisper of awe and her hands grasped her chest as if she was hurt,"...of flying in the mountains." Teardrops clung to her eyelashes and gleamed like jewels as they left the shadow of her lashes on her cheek. Her eyes closed again as she tried to keep the emotions locked in her chest, just to savor them a bit longer as they made her heart squeeze pleasantly. Ledge smiled sadly, reaching out to carefully brush a tear off of her cheek. Marishka didn't stop him.
"I'm sure you could some day." He tilted his head to the side. "Ryloth has beautiful mountings, Naboo also..." he sighed. "Hundreds of planets to choose from."
Ben for his part had busied himself taking stock of medical supplies. Allowing the two a peaceful moment.
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Miya stepped up to the door of the hijacked empty transport ship and looked around. The hanger here was nearly empty, except for a few people milling around.
"Come on, dawgs," she said, jumping off onto the deck," Ru'buir shouldn' be too far if dis ship is like ours." Another sister stepped off behind her.
She was called the humanized form of winter and no one doubted it. Snowdrop was a pale blue girl with a long braid of snow white hair that covered her neck and shoulders in her favorite style (the braid was wrapped around her neck and shoulders). When her foot touched down onto the deck, a big spot of ice formed underneath her toes. She glanced down at the spot and frowned.
"I hope no one slips," she murmured.
"The ship is room temperature, Snowdrop," Vision said behind her," No one will slip on the ice." Snowdrop turned her eyes to Vision.
"It's the water when it melts that I'm worried about," she said. Dove trotted out after Vision and looked anxiously around the hanger.
"I hope no one stops us," she said worriedly.
"I hope we don't get LOST," Soul said, glancing at Miya who glared.
(10 minutes later)
"We...are...LOST, Miya," Soul said irritably. She scratched her spiky head a few times before glaring up at her vod's back," Just ask where the bridge is!"
"I ain't askin' no one here," Miya growled back. Vision, Dove, and Boombox were glancing between the two worriedly. However, Snowdrop had a different plan. She walked calmly up to both girls, turned Miya around, and bashed their heads together. Both girls fell over with loud groans of pain. She looked behind her to Boombox and nodded to her. Boombox nodded back. She looked around for a second before spotting someone with their back turned towards them. Shyly, she crept up behind the man and played:
"Hey hey hey
All the way
DJ, let it play,
Can you hear me?
Hey hey hey
All the way
DJ
Can you hear me?"
The man looked around for a second before turning around to Boombox. He had bright colored red hair that poked out from a backwards cap on his head and a tuff of it on his chin. His grin revealed a golden tooth, which went with the gangster look he had going with the baggy pants and tight shirt.
"Hey der, dawg," he said casually," Wacha need?" Boombox was happy that she found someone willing to help on the first try.
"Tell me baby!"
:CLICK:
"I only wanna be with..."
:CLICK:
"Hey, soul sister!"
The clone tilted his head to the side, his eyebrows coming together in thought. "Aurora aint got no sista's… You's talkin' 'bout dat freaky Devaronian lady?"
The girls stiffened slightly.
:Click:
"My mamma's still my biggest fan…"
He frowned. "Oh, sorry dawg, but dat chick needs ta learn some manners. If ya know what I'm sayin'."
Miya's eye twitched as she gently pushed Boombox out of the guy's way and replaced herself in his line of vision.
"How 'bout you learn some manners yoself, dawg," she said coldly," 'N not badmouth our buir in fron' of us."
The clone held up his hands defensively. "All I'm sayin' is dat she shouldn' be goin' 'round acting like some self reechoes sheb hole." His eyes narrowed and he looked down at her. "An maybe it' do her good not ta go attackin' someone on der own ship."
Soul immediately locked Miya's hands above her head and Snowdrop rotated into her spot as Soul dragged her away so she couldn't tear the man to pieces.
"Would that happen to be because Marishka went into a frenzy," she asked mildly, her clear eyes showing nothing. Dove poked her head around Snowdrop's side and looked up at the man with huge hopeful eyes.
"Da kriffed up bloodsucker who attacked Ben?" His eyes narrowed and he shook his head with a scowl. "Come on I can understand maybe sockin' 'im or something but sinkin' her teeth into 'is neck? There's no reason for dat!"
Snowdrop shut her eyes very slowly and Vision immediately took a hold of Dove around the waist just as she lunged for the man. The once cute happy face was twisted into a look of unbridled fury as she tried to twist her way out of Vision's grip. Miya was no better. She was fighting hard with Soul so that she could kill the aruetii that DARE call her sister a bloodsucker. Boombox was looking at the man in both horror and sorrow and a click went in her throat:
"You, you
You are
You you
You are...!
:CLICK:
"...one of us!"
Miya stopped twisting and glared hard into the man's face before she realized that he WAS one of them. A clone trooper of Jango Fett, but still a clone.
"KRIFFIN ARUETII," she exploded,"YOU SHOULD KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE! KAMINII TREATIN' US LIKE EXPERIMENTS! WELL YOU'RE LOOKIN' AT DEIR FAILURES...!" Soul managed to get an arm around Miya's mouth before she screamed anymore. Snowdrop opened her eyes and stared hard into the trooper's eyes.
"Marishka needed to feed," she said calmly, though the ice spot around her feet grew to accommodate everyone in its width," She was made to be part of a race that was both feared because of their cruel ways and admired by their beauty by humans. That race was mixed with another race that was very powerful and needed the blood of others to survive. She went into a frenzy because she was very low on energy and couldn't think straight."
"Dat would have been helpful to know don't cha think?" his eyes where set in a hard look. "It wouldn' 'ave been a problem if someone 'ad bothered ta WARN us." He glared openly at them. "She coulda killed ma brothah."
He turned to look at Miya an unreadable expression on his face. "Failures hu?" He spun on his heals removing his baseball cap and pulling his loose red hair up to reveal a round puncture wound just below his hair line. "you's aint da only ones." He pulled his hat back on turning to look at them, arms folded across his chest. Vision looked miserable and it wasn't just because of Dove acting like a hellcat.
"Buir is...a liiiiittle tight lipped about blurting us out. Once a crew finds out," she said and Snowdrop snapped her fingers,"Instant trouble."
"Herdings are the worst," Miya grumbled as Soul slowly let her go. She adjusted her chains and glanced back up at the man," You too, huh?" She held out her wrists and revealed two identical little holes but with cracks around the edges and the veins there instead of blue were neon green.
"Which was it... healing or wind," she asked doleful.
He laughed dryly. "I don' even know." He shook his head. "All I know's is now, I can do dis." He removed his cap from his head tossing it up into the air and flicking his finger upward. The hat shot up suddenly smacking against the ceiling and falling back down into his waiting hands. "I made sure da kaminii didn' know 'bout dat."
Dove finally managed to wiggle out of Vision's arms and marched up to the trooper.
"You have my sister," she said firmly, trying her hardest not to lose her temper, and crossed her arms over her chest, "Where is she?"
"My guess?" he raised an eyebrow. "Med bay, though not to long if Barricade gets 'is way."
His come link suddenly cackled, several curse word followed by someone yelling.
"I'm gonna get you for this, you kriffin albino snowman!"
The trooper lifted the COM to his lips. "Wrong frequency, yo. Do I wanna know dawg?"
"Freeze left one of his shabla ice patch's next to my fighter and its rusting it out!"
Snowdrop shifted uncomfortably and slowly turned to Vision.
"Not going to do anything, huh," she said sarcastically Vision blinked.
"Dun worry, Snowdrop," Miya said. Boombox nodded.
"Yeah, we'll have Dove help whoever it is fix it...right Dove," Soul said.
Dove, however, was suddenly gone.
All girls stared at the spot she was just at before running off in different directions calling out for her to come back.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Brandon stood there for a moment before activating his COM link. "Aurora, we got a liddle problem."
"Osik what NOW?"
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Marishka suddenly stiffened, and her head tilted towards the door.
"Dove," she asked.
Ledge looked at her for a moment blinking in confusion. "Who's that?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Shadow," Irene called out weakly as she pushed opened the door. It was dead dark in the room and it made her uneasy, this would be a perfect place to be attacked. But she swallowed her fear and slowly entered the room. Boxes were stacked in the far corner but other than that the room was empty. She squinted waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness.
Shadow stiffened. 'How did she find me?' He'd kill that rat that gave away his hiding place. Oh well, this was his playing field. At least he could make the rules.
Silently the masked trooper began moving toward her location, keeping a safe distance away so she would not realize his presence.
"Shadow," she called again," Mein freund?" She sat down in the middle of the room.
"General Lunar told me you don't like your scars," she said quietly," Did... did someone... did someone make you think there was something wrong with them?"
Shadow didn't move a muscle he contemplated his situation. A part of him said she had a right to know…
But everything else was screaming at him to get the dary'am out of there."Women don't like scars…"
There came a point in every man's life when there was just to much to hold in anymore, he knew he could never talk to his brothers, they didn't need the guilt. He couldn't talk to his general, he didn't want her pity. But a stranger? Aside from her name Shadow didn't know much at all about Irene, and she knew next to nothing about him. He'd probably never see her again anyway. She wouldn't want to see him again after she knew…
Shadow took a seat in front of her, producing a flat round metal flash light from his belt and lying it on the ground between them, he turned it on and the light shown over both of them. Not enough to destroy the beautiful darkness surrounding them, but enough so that she could see him.
"Perhaps it would have been easier in the dark…"
"Shadow?" Irene seemed slightly startled by the sudden appearance of the light, but she quickly recovered.
He nodded, taking a deep breath. "Here it goes…" swallowed hard.
"They make me hers." His voice was even more of a whisper than before, as if speaking was forbidden.
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Irene blinked. Her? Her? A female did this? Not Kainen? So there was another demeagolka out there.
It made her want to cry. Not just about another demeagokla out in the world...but the victim. Shadow was very talented with his power was very nice, from what she knew of him. and...he saved her. He didn't know her...but he saved her.
"There's nothing wrong with scars," she said, lifting up her head and put a hand on her neck," I don't know if you can see... but I've gotten scars on my job, too." A large ring was around her neck where it looked like a rope had been with a thin line in the middle of it.
He shook his head a dry humorless almost scary laugh come from his throat. "Not as bad."
Irene bit her lip. Right then, she felt very very naive and intrusive...and guilty.
"If this is too much for you...," she said quietly," I'll leave you alone." Even though every thought in her skull screamed that he'd need to talk to SOMEONE.
Shadow sighed holding his head on one hand. "She didn't want to share…" he shook his head. "Women… don't like scars." The fabric of his mask twisted into a scowl. "Ugly."
He said nothing for a long time. Irene didn't know what to say. She couldn't say "That's not true" since a lot of women really didn't like scars, but that didn't mean that ALL of them were repulsed by them. The silence stretched so long in the room that Irene was about to stand to leave him alone when he did something she had not expected.
He reached up with one hand and tore his mask off of his head, goggles and all.
Irene bit back a gasp.
The damage was… extensive. Carved into his face was the outline of the mandalorian vizsla clan symbol. Within the infamous deathwatch symbol were many seemingly randomly placed X's and other random markings. A perfectly round burn scar marked his left cheekbone with a mythasourus scull smack dab in the center, as if someone had branded the trooper... like an animal. His neck also had many randomly placed jagged cuts, which seemed to be the work of a viro-blade, they extended below the collar of Shadows shirt, and it made Irene's blood run cold to think that the scar's continued below where she could see. Shadow's skin was ghostly pale as a result of his constant coverage, a feature that caused his scares to be clearly defined, and not at all pretty.
Her eyes darted all over his face, drinking in all the damage as she felt a familiar emotion bloom in her chest.
Fear
The scars...they were everywhere. Not a single piece of smooth skin was showing on the trooper. It scared her for unknown reasons and made her stomach start to turn.
But when her eyes looked up into his, she felt ashamed.
It was drilled into his skull that women didn't like scars and here she was proving it. She was proving his worst nightmare.
"Don't leave," she said hoarsely, scared that he'd see the fear in her eyes and do just that. She crawled up closer to him and reached out a hand. It trembled slightly this time when she reached out to trace his face, and her fingertips stopped short for a few seconds. They first touched the mythasourus scar on his cheek, the fingers cupping his jaw and her thumb gently brushed the design. Her other hand joined in the roaming as she traced all of the scars that she could see.
The more scars she traced, the heavier her heart became.
She wanted to say something...anything. Everything. But everything sounded so pitiful in her mind to ease him of all this pain. So she just did what she was good at. She leaned up and kissed him, right on the mythosourus, before she reached out again to pull his head under her chin. She held him tight in her grip and began to cry. She cried for everything: Shadow, her sisters, his brothers, their parents, all their lives, and all the cruelty in the universe.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Shadow just sat there, unable to think or move or even breath.
She didn't run
He had expected disgust
She didn't run
Or morbid fascination
She didn't run
But most of all he had expected hatred, loathing for what he was.
SHE DIDN'T RUN!
She had touched him, held him, with a closeness he thought he could never again feel. She CRIED… Shadow swallowed the lump threatening to form in his throat.
… but she hadn't run.
Irene pulled back and sniffled. She put the heel of her hand on her cheek to wipe away the tears and tried to bring back her breath.
"I-I-I'm sorry," she said, her voice cracked and weak," I-I d-didn't mean to get you wet." She looked up at him again and bit her lip. She pulled him so that their foreheads touched and she kissed his other cheek this time.
Shadow didn't move, didn't speak. The last time he'd been touched like that it had not been so gentle, and it had not stopped there.
"I want to say something," she murmured,"...Anything... but I just don't know..." Now her shame was complete. She was babbling. She didn't want to say something that'll make him run away.
Shadow said nothing; he reached out and ran a gloved hand over the back of her hair, rubbing his thumb against her cheek, her smooth, undamaged cheek. He looked at her, her eyes, her lips... and he fought back a sudden overwhelming urge to kiss her.
He wanted to protect her, keep her safe. Looking at her now… he couldn't help but think that she deserved so much more than what the kaminii had given her.
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Ru'more felt a twitch start up in the corner of her eye as she asked softly," Did...he say...that Boombox was here?"
"Sorry I have no idea who that is." Aurora's reply was layered with sarcasm.
"Well... if she is here," Ru'more said," Then I have a feeling that we're going to get another guest on this ship very soon."
Aurora groaned, looking up at the ceiling. "You really got it out for me don't you? PHWOAR YOU!"
Ru'more stared at her for a moment. "Who… are you talking to?"
"The force kriff it!" Lunar gave her a look.
'Jetii…'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Boombox ran along the corridors without so much as a sneeze at being talked about. She had way too much on her mind as she tried to think where the Med Bay would be.
Dove was mad and she was searching for Marishka. That was the perfect recipe for disaster...especially after her pod sister being called a bloodsucker for the thousandth time. And by one of them!
The girls had always felt that the boy clones and themselves were together, seeing as they were on the same boat.
Boombox stopped still in the hallway when she realized that she had just gone almost all the way back to the hanger. She stomped her foot in anger and her voice box screamed:
"Where'd you go?
I miss you so...
:CLICK:
"IF SHE EVER LEAVES THIS HOUSE AGAIN
I'M GONNA TIE HER TO THE BED
AND SET THIS HOUSE ON FIRE!"
No one answered, but there was action.
A pair of hands grabbed her shoulders and slammed her back into a very hard object. She lunged forward to escape, but the person's hold was tight like metal. Boombox struggled around with the person for a bit before twisting her head around to glare up at...
Boombox's mouth fell open as she stared at her assailant in shock. The arms around her lost their grip just enough for her to turn around to fully face them. She tried to think of something to say. All the songs in the universe she could play...but all she could get her voice box to sing was:
"Don't be mad at meeeeeEEE!
Don't be mad at meeeeeEEE!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Aurora's COM crackled for what felt like the thousandth time today. -"General? This is Falcon. We've got two unidentified ships in the hanger bay."
Lunar's eye twitched slightly, and she placed her head in her hands. "Force if this is your sick and twisted way of helping master getting back at me for the gungan incident…" she mumbled almost to herself.
Dove was just a streak as she raced down all the halls of the Requiem. She had to find her sister...
What did that man mean "If Barricade had his way"?
That...upset her. It was just like all the other ships when they found out about Marishka's...condition. But she had to admit, they were taken by surprise since their buir didn't like to had out holos about it. For any of them.
A splash of red out of the corner Dove's eye had her put on her brakes and nearly faceplant in the hallway. She rushed back to look into the room...
But only found a man with a part red rat tail in it. He blinked at her, a blank look of shock on his features, as if he'd never seen a girl before. Dove huffed in agitation and continued her search.
She didn't get far.
The man came out of the room and planted a hand right on top of her head to keep her from leaving.
"And where do you think your going?" he looked down at her with a scowl set on his face. "Your not supposed to be here."
"How do YOU know I'm not supposed to be here?" she looked up at him defiantly, she didn't have time for this, she needed to find her sister!
The man snorted. "Lunar already COM'd us about the AUTHORIZED females that were boarding. Your not one of them."
"I'm here for my vod," she said," Which way to medical." The man raised an eyebrow at her and folded his arms.
"What makes you think I'm going to let you wonder the ship...you could be a seppie spy," he said, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Then come with me," she said irritably," Or have someone escort me...just get me to medical to see my vod before she gets herded."
"First, I have no idea what that means," He continued to glare at her. "And second-" he was cut off by a voice… well actually two voices.
"Hawk!"
Dove turned to see that to other troopers had exited the room she blinked momentarily surprised. They where carbon copy's of one and other, one with white hair and a black strip, the other with black hair and a white strip there tattoo's mirrored each other as well, one with a helix on his left the other a jagged line on his right. Even there postures perfectly mimicked on and other. Of course her surprise didn't last long. She had to find Marishka.
"Who's the-" the white haired one began.
"-Lady?" The other finished.
The man who had been identified as Hawk groaned, before a mischievous look came into his eyes. "She's an unexpected arrival." He turned to look at them. "And YOU TWO are going to tack her to the med bay." With that he turned to leave, "if you need me, I'll be on the bridge discussing this with the generals."
"Ok!" the troopers spook in unison turning to look at Dove. "Hello!"
"He's Zigzag." The black haired one said pointing to his brother.
"He's Swish." Zigzag continued pointing to the black haired man.
"At your service." They spoke in unison grinning broadly.
Dove felt her irritation and anger melt away as the two talked. Her crooked grin twisted her lips and a deep chuckle left her.
"Su'cuy gar, mi amores," she said, grin never leaving," I'm Dove...could you take me to the med bay?"
"Sure." They chimed grinning.
"We don't get-" Zigzag began.
"-Many visitors." Swish finished.
"Right this way." They turned leading her down a hallway she would have otherwise ran right past.
"So what-" Zigzag began.
"-Brings you aboard-" Swish continued.
"-The Requiem?" Zigzag picked up.
"My vod... she had an accident and was brought here, then she woke up and went into a frenzy and attacked someone, your General went nuts because our buir is too kriffin tight lipped to WARN anyone about us because people like to herd us when they find out, they got into a fight, our OTHER sister who took my first vod's place went missing because your vod saved her and now she's missing again, me and some other sisters hijacked a transport to get here and someone called my first vod a bloodsucker, and NOW we're worried that my first vod might get herded by someone named Barricade so we're here to make sure that doesn't happen." She took a deep breath when she finished and grinned sheepishly at both of them," It's...kind of chaotic and I'm not in my best mood."
The two men were silent for a moment; they looked at each other and Dove could help but feel as though some conversation was going on without her hearing it. Finally Zigzag spoke.
"Barricade wouldn't-" Zigz started, Dove couldn't help but notice he always went first.
"-Really do that-" Swish continued, setting them into a pattern.
"-He's just-"
"-Worried about Ben-"
"-Like the rest of us. He's just -"
"-Got an INTERESTING way-"
"-Of dealing with people." They shook their heads and Dove was amazed to see that even that they did in perfect tangent.
"Here we are." The said together coming to a closed door with a sign above it labeled. 'medical'. Joy squeezed Dove's heart and she began pounding on the door
"MARISHKAAAAAAA," she yelled.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Everyone jerked around to stare at the door and an unfamilar yet familiar voice screamed outside of it.
"DOVE," Marishka yelled back and stumbled to the door. When it came open, she leapt onto her sister with such momentum, they both crashed into the wall leaving a crack where they landed. Neither girl cared. They had silly smiles stretching their faces as they got up and clasped hands firmly leaving their knuckles white.
"Su'cuy, vod," Dove said
"Su'cuy," Marishka answered. Both girls laughed and slapped each other on the back. Marishka turned to face the two men, who were watching them curiously. "This is my sister Dove."
Ledge grinned, "Nice to meet ya."
"Ma'am." Ben nodded respectfully.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Give me your COM." Ru'more folded her arms across her chest and glared at the jedii before her.
"What am I today a personal messaging servos?" Aurora glared at her but held out her COM.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Ben, here," he said, but it wasn't his General's voice that came out of his COM.
"DOVE," Ru'more's voice growled. Dove grinned at the COM and waved.
"Su'cuy, buir," she said happily, oblivious to her mother's tone.
"Care to explain WHY you and the others came aboard the Requiem when I told you to STAY PUT on the Justice," Ru'more asked. Dove blinked and tapped her cheek for a bit.
"NOPE," she said in the same happy voice, popping her p and grabbing her sister's hands. Ledge held back a laugh.
"So how are you doing buir?" Dove asked sweetly.
"Despite having Irene, Kit-Kat, and Marishka to worry about...and now all of you... I'm doing fine," she said,"And guess what ELSE, kitling!"
"What," Dove asked, gently swinging her amused sister's hands from side to side.
"You brought Boombox," she said quietly.
"Yes...and," Dove asked tilting her head at the COM.
"Boombox plus not on Justice plus a long period of time equals WHAT, kitling," she asked exasperated. Boombox not on the Justice for a long period of time, soooo?
"Everyone knows that we've gone...they just don't know WHERE," Dove said.
"Dove, ad'ika," Ru'more said and Dove could tell she had shut her eyes very very slowly," Who was suppose to come onboard the Justice today...someone whose VERY close to Boombox and hasn't seen her in a few months?"
A few months...
A cold bucket of ice water just dropped onto Dove's mind as she remembered. Her smile slipping off of her face and Marishka's arms stopped swinging.
And he didn't know...
Oh, kriff.
"A very worried and very unhappy Gaelen," she whispered.
"Who's Gaelen?" Ledge asked.
"Should I prep the medical equipment just in case?" Ben's voice was as calm and quite as ever.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
As soon as the words left the comlink, a clone marched onto the bridge with Boombox upside down underneath his arm. She wasn't a small girl, average height and wasn't that easy to carry, but the man did it as if she was just an empty box. He looked like any other clone except he had silver lining the sides of his temples and a huge X mark over his throat. The skin around the X was frayed as if the skin was burned first, then marked. He stopped at attention in front of Ru'more and glared at the comlink on Lunar's arm.
"Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear," Ru'more thought wryly as she dropped the comlink and held out her arm," Su'cuy, Gaelen."
The clone's eyes snapped back to his General's and held out his free hand and clasped hers with a nod. Ru'more raised an eyebrow at the upside down girl under his arm. She smiled sheepishly and gave a weak wave.
"You say yes,
I say no,
You say stop,
But I say go go GO!
You say goodbye
But I say hello!
Hello, hello-!"
Gaelen fixed a stern eye on the girl and the song was replaced:
"These words are my own,
From my heart flow..."
:CLICK:
"And I'm sorry if I left you in the rain..."
:CLICK:
"I love you,
I love you,
I love yoooou!"
The clone's eyes softened at her songs and gently placed her on her feet. When she was righted, he laid his head on top of hers and crossed his arms in front of her.
General Lunar looked the man up and down for a moment. "And what does he do?"
"You don't have to have special powers to be a reject," Ru'more stated. Boombox's look turned sad as she reached behind her and gently touched the X that marked Gaelen's throat. Gaelen's eyes shut and his Adam's apple shied away from underneath her fingertips. Captain Paint who had been watching silently for a long time, grinned, extending his hand out to Gaelen.
"It'll be nice to have another force dud brother hanging around."
Gaelen's brow rose, but the corner of his lips turned upwards into a smirk. He still kept one arm around Boombox, but he straightened up and grasped Paint's hand, Mando'a style.
Aurora rolled her eyes. "How many times have I told you not to refer to yourself as a 'force dud'?"
"How many tattoo's do I have?" he asked, countering her impossible question with his own.
"Sheb hole." She rolled her eyes playfully. Boombox's eyebrow was also raised an eyebrow at Gaelen and she shook her head at him.
"And I SWEAR!
You're just like a pill!
'stead of making me BETTER,
You keep making me ill!"
Gaelen grinned widely then, turned her around, picked up her chin, and nuzzled their foreheads together.
Lunar and Paint's eyebrows creased as they stared at the two.
"Are they GAH," Lunar said as Ru'more's booted heel slammed down onto her toes. She whipped around towards the Devaronian and glared darkly at her.
"What...the kriff...was that for," she growled. Ru'more jerked her head away from the two. Lunar still glared, but moved away with her.
"Don't say anything about it," Ru'more said quietly.
"And why pray tell?" Aurora asked.
Ru'more stared at her blankly, causing the jedi to huff.
"Fine."
Boombox finally put her hand over Gaelen's face playfully and forced him away. But he doged her hand and set his chin back up onto her head. Boombox snorted before turning to Ru'more and singing:
"Where'd you go?
I missed you so...
:CLICK:
Blessed she,
Irene,
Who seeks my faith!"
Aurora's face softened a fraction. "She went looking for Shadow after he ran off." She tilted her head to the side. "Lower level storage room I assume." Boombox turned and ran out from underneath Gaelen's chin, making the clone stumble before chasing after her out of the room.
"SHUT UP AND LET ME GO!
THIS HURTS I TOLD YOU SO!"
He came back in like the first time. But this time, he sat down on the floor with Boombox in his lap and set his head down hard on hers. Boombox glared at the floor.
"I hate myself for loving yoou"
Gaelen just rolled his eyes and shook his head. Boombox glared for a couple of more minutes before her head jumped up and she grinned very widely.
"HEY LITTLE GIRL,
WITH THE PRESSURE OF THE WORLD
ON YOUR SHOULDERS,
DON'T SAY THAT IT'S OVER-"
The whole Irene song boomed from her voice box with such a volume, the floor started to tremble underneath everyone's boots. Ru'more grabbed her ears and bit her lip to keep herself from screaming while Gaelen still clung to her stubbornly while clenching his teeth tightly and his eyes squeezed shut. Both Jedi and captain covered their ears cursing loudly in a mixture of Mando'an and English
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Down in the storage room, Irene blinked and looked up at the ceiling as her song came through it and sung at a normal volume. Shadow looked up as well, surprised. He back at her, tilting his head to the side in question. He quickly reached out to grab his mask, pulling it on in one smooth motion.
Irene still stared up at the ceiling in confusion, even when she realized what was happening.
"Boombox," she said," What's she doing here?" She turned around, went to the door to open it but stopped and looked back to make sure that Shadow was comfortable with her opening the door. Even though he had showed her his face, she was pretty sure it was a very rare and uncomfortable thing that he did even around his brothers. She wouldn't be rash with throwing away that careful present of trust he gave her. When she saw his mask was all the way in place, she opened the door and looked around the hallway.
"Boombox," she called. No one answered and the music didn't get any closer. Irene looked up to the vibrating ceiling and frowned.
"She must be higher up...and playing really loudly," she said. She looked around before realizing she had come down on autopilot.
"Which way did I come from."
A hand on her shoulder made her look over into Shadow's covered face. He gestured down the right way and then did the hand signal for "up and out"
"Come on," she said, gently tugging on his arm in the direction," Come meet Boombox!"
Shadow hesitated before slipping in behind her, disappearing into the faint shadow beneath her feet.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Irene gasped and covered her ears when she stepped onto the Bridge. The music was EAR-SPLITTING. She looked up to see her vod sitting cross legged in, surprises never stop coming, her protector's lap. He was suffering the worst, seeing as he was right with her in the blast of music. The other on the bridge weren't so far behind though. Irene stumbled over to where she was at least in Boombox's peripheral vision.
"BOOMBOX," she screamed over the noise," BOOMBOOOOOX!"
Boombox grinned when she saw her and started bouncing in Gaelen's lap as her music switched to something softer, making everyone sigh in relief.
"Hey baby,
Hey baby,
Hey!
Girls say,
Girls say,
Hey baby,
Hey baby,
Hey!"
"BOOMBOX," Ru'more barked, making the girl look up at her buir with huge eyes.
"THAT," she said," was a VERY childish thing to do! You don't scream so loud you nearly bust someone's eardrum! What was that about"
"I'm so sorry for your pain,
I'm so sorry for your tears...
:CLICK:
I missed yoooouuuu
:CLICK:
Irene, I carried you
When you was too weak to walk"
General Lunar tilted her head to the side. "What'd she say?" she shook her head. "I know her lips are moving but I think I might be DEAF."
Paint rolled his eyes. "Your in a mood."
"Not today Paint…" Aurora sighed. A comlink started going off and Lunar screamed.
"NO! NO MORE COMLINK! I'VE HAD ENOUGH CHAOS FOR ONE DAY," she said grabbing at her comlink before she realized...it wasn't her this time. It was Ru'more's. She clicked it on, and an image of a girl appeared. She had short hair that was braided into a waterfall braid and clothes that looked like a tank top and a pair of shorts.
"Su'cuy, buir," the girl said saluting crisply and unsmiling.
"Su'cuy, ad'ike," Ru'more said,"What's wrong?"
"Ashputel got herded again," she said, brisk and cold," Rapunzel and Aithne just found her suspended by cable wires in a supply closet. She's banged up pretty bad and we need you back here...she's calling for you."
All from the Justice froze. Ru'more stared at her comlink wide eyed and her breathing stopped. Gaelen's eyes rolled up into his head and Boombox looked like she'd been shot.
"Oh nooooo," Irene moaned and grabbed at her hair.
Author's Notes:
The guys (besides Gaelen) and General Lunar belong to AL0LT0
The girls, Gaelen, and General Ru'more belong to me
Star Wars: The Clone Wars belong to LucasFilms and Company
Wherever You Go by Bryan Adams
Can You Hear Me by Enrique Iglesias
Tell Me Baby by Red Hot Chili Peppers
I Only Want To Be With You by Hootie and the Blowfish
Who Am I by Jessica Andrews
Womanizer by Britney Spears
Where'd You Go by Fort Knox
Love the Way You Lie by Rhianna ft Eminem
Don't Be Mad at Me by Waka Flocka Flame
Hello, Goodbye by the Beetles
These Words by Natasha Bedingfield
I'm Sorry by Rising Neptune
Just Like a Pill by Pink
Irene by Toby Mac
I Hate Myself for Loving You by Joan Jett
Shut Up and Let Me Go by Ting Tings
Hey Baby by No Doubt
Far Away by Nickleback
I'm Sorry by Tommy Reeve
I didn't think to do this in the others so I'll go back and re-do them but here are translations with the words used (All comes from Republic Commando books by Karen Travis):
Kriff - (Mando'a) Expletive...probably fuck
Vod - (Mando'a) Brother/Sister
Sheb - (Mando'a) Ass
Buir - (Mando'a) boo-we-er Mother/Father :Ru'buir = Mama Ru'more:
Su'cuy - (Mando'a) su-coo-ee Greeting in Mando'a: So you're still alive
Ad'ika - (Mando'a) ad-eek-a Son/Daughter
Dar'yam - (Mando'a) Hell
Kaminii - (Mando'a) Ka-meanie Kaminoans
Mein Freund - (German) mine froind My friend
Please review! I really need reviews.
Captain Rex and others will be showing up in the next chapters! Yay!
