The Emerging Darkness:
Day 22: 4 AM (I'm up again. I can't sleep. I must be driving poor Salam crazy! )
Well, as it turned out, neither Rex nor I ended up being in trouble. Despite the awkward situation being 'troublesome' to explain; Sky-walker took it quite well. The Padawan; well, that's a ... complicated story! I must say though, in her defense; she was very helpful to me personally.
One of the things Obi Wan and Anakin had arranged for our unit, was to requisition some additional supplies from the Resolute's Quartermaster. Ashoka had eased some of my discomfort in trying to obtain some 'girl things' I'd need soon. She took me back to her quarters and gave me a few boxes of brand new 'girl things'.
"Here." She said. "Another Jedi had given these to me. She told me they are good, especially when you get stuck in a place where there's no supplies." Ashoka mumbled as she pulled several small boxes out of one of her drawers.
"They require laundering." She sort of cringed and then let out a thankful sigh. "I've never needed to use them though; but I think they'd be good for you, since you guys are sort of stuck living off the land down there." Ashoka smiled as she piled several of these small boxes into my arms.
"These kind of supplies are hard to come by around here." She commented. "They aren't on the normal list of things that can be requisitioned from the ship's supply room." She giggled as she searched around for a bag to put them in.
"Obviously the boys don't need them; nor would most of them even know what they're for!" She looked at me with an expression that half bordered on pity and gratitude that she wasn't in my predicament. Glad I'm not the one having to try and explain to your brothers why you bleed every month. Her eyes seemed to be saying.
"Well thank you for your help." I told her.
"No problem." She grinned as she tied the handles of the bag together and handed it back to me.
I put my helmet back on before we reentered the corridor. Ashoka made a quick survey of the hall before she motioned to me that it was safe to come out. I guess she herself was concerned about the opinions of others who may have thought she had some shinny stashed in her quarters. The dynamics on this ship are, at the very least.. interesting. I thought to myself as I followed her back to the supply rooms to help some of the other men from my unit load our transport. I got some glares from several of the brothers we'd passed along the way.
"Stupid shinny!" They'd laugh.
Stupid shinny yeah! I smirked to myself as my thoughts rambled on. Ashoka, I wonder what you may know? I pondered as I tried to imagine what it would be like to be her? What goes through the mind of a Padawan who is caught somewhere between her order and this army? Do you love Rex? I found myself asking her.
Ashoka suddenly stopped and turned around. Her eyes seemed to be searching for something. She steadied her hand on her light-saber, just in case.
"What's the matter?" I cautiously inquired as I instinctively too reached for a pistol, I suddenly realized I didn't possess. That's not very comforting. The thought passed. God what do I do now? I cringed in apprehension.
"There it is again." Ashoka mumbled as she quietly un-clipped her weapon.
"What?" I whispered.
"I think someone is following us." She confided as she surveyed the corridor behind me and the bulkheads in our immediate surroundings.
"Disturbance in the force?" I commented as I peered around myself. I didn't feel anything; but that didn't mean much.
"No, not like a disturbance." She replied. "More like a haunting?" She interpreted, as she peered up over us and all around. "It's like that creepy feeling of silence once a battle is over." She paused a moment and looked at me. "I keep feeling... a clone?"
"Like a ghost?" I asked.
"I don't know?" She gazed inquisitively at me. "Keeps asking me about Rex though?" She raised an eyebrow. "No, couldn't be." She suddenly shook her head in dismissal of what ever thought had just been there.
"What?" I questioned.
"You guys aren't telepathic." She started to laugh as she holstered the light-saber and started to walk away. "It's nothing." She reassured herself.
"Well, OK?" I shrugged as I continued to follow. I wonder if it's me she's sensing? I kept thinking as we journeyed along. Interesting, and she doesn't seem unnerved by all of this? I wonder what that could mean? Dark feelings suddenly filled my soul. No, she wouldn't go there; would she? No, can't be. Rex seems to trust her and he's got a good head on his shoulders.
I paused a moment to see if I could figure out where these feelings were coming from. I tried to come to some sort of conclusion, or solution; but just couldn't think of anything. That was until someone else showed up.
"Snips, there you are? I've been looking all over for you." We heard a voice from behind us. We both turned around.
"Master?" Ashoka suddenly seemed a bit ill at ease herself. "What's wrong? What's going on?"
"I've been paging you through your com-link. Did you shut it off again?" General Sky-walker sounded annoyed.
"No, don't think so." Ashoka checked the com-link. "It's on, must be malfunctioning." She concluded as she tapped it a few times.
"Well, she has to report to the supply room." He gestured in my direction. "And you need to come with me."
"OK." Ashoka shrugged as she glanced at me and started walking toward her master. "Just keep following this hall." She waved off in the direction we'd been going. "You'll see the signs."
"Well, OK. Thank you." I remarked as I watched them scurry away. Then it suddenly dawned on me; that dark creepy feeling I kept getting. It wasn't Ashoka, it was Anakin!
Well, after a little incident in one of the supply rooms; I stayed on the transport and helped Antioch and Babylon secure the cargo boxes. It was very uncomfortable and I hated the job, primarily because all these two did was grin at me while we worked. Well, then again; at least all they are doing is grinning. I thought to myself. Although it wasn't too long before my discomfort level got so high that I put my helmet back on. If I couldn't stop them from grinning; at least they didn't have to see how much this irked me.
We were almost done loading and there was a bit of a lull in the action; so I decided to find a quiet corner to take a break. I snuck behind one box and found myself between it and a half hatched door, who's top half opened into the troop seating compartment. On the other side of the door I could hear some voices.
"Oh hello Cody." I quickly turned around when I heard Anakin.
How'd he get here so fast? I thought to myself. And isn't that weird? I pondered a bit longer. I don't feel that... darkness any more.
"Hello General Sky-walker." Cody responded. "Do you know where Rex is? I want to say good-bye to him before they leave."
"Not sure? He's around here someplace." Anakin replied.
"And you are?" I heard Cody again.
"Oh this is Shiloh." Anakin offered. "I take it you two have never met."
"Hello Commander." Shiloh's familiar voice rang through the air loud and clear. He must have been standing just on the other side of this door.
"Hello." Cody said. "So you are the other...unique clone of this unit." I heard Cody laugh.
"Yes, I am." Shiloh laughed too. "If that's what you want to call it?"
"Speaking of unique clones." Cody spoke again. "Is she OK?" He inquired.
"Yeah I think so." Shiloh answered. "She's in the supply room."
"Oh good! I want to say bye to her too." Cody laughed. "I won't do anything to make her hit me this time though!" He chuckled.
"So what do you think of her?" I heard Cody's whisper. It sounded rather loud. I leaned over and peered further up at the half hatched door opening. I could see the top half of the back of Cody. He was leaning against the door. "Isn't she beautiful." He said.
"I'm the wrong guy to ask that." I heard Shiloh laugh. "But yes, for a Jango clone; she is attractive."
There was a bit of a pause.
"You calling us ugly?" I heard Cody's curious inquisition and then the titter of a smirk.
"No." Shiloh laughed. "You guys are just like my army. We all suffer more from being too common than being too ugly."
"Yeah, I suppose that's true." Cody let out a bit of a laugh. "But why'd they only have to make one of her?" I heard him growl.
"I'm sorry Commander." Anakin's voice suddenly broke in as I could see his hand come into the door way and pat Cody on the shoulder. Cody let out a heavy sigh.
"Well I guess I'll go find Rex." Cody finally concluded as he stepped away from the door. I could hear his feet go pounding across the metal deck.
"Master, I don't get it." I suddenly heard Ashoka's voice whisper. I stretched up a hair more, then quickly ducked back down. I could see the top of her head next to the side of Anakin. "Why are they all so in love with her?" She questioned, sounding a bit exasperated. "Isn't that like..." She paused a minute. "Clone-cest?"
"Ashoka don't say that!" Anakin suddenly scolded her.
"We're not perverts." I heard Shiloh break in. "I may not be part of this clone army; but don't judge us by your own perceptions." Shiloh stated with conviction. "She's a part of them and so of course they are going to be drawn to her." Shiloh explained. "The base of our needs for love and companionship aren't any different than yours." He said. "So don't twist to evil what God meant for good, just because you don't understand it!"
There was a good long pause of silence.
"Please excuse my Padawan." I heard Anakin say with a bit of condescension . "I'm sorry Shiloh." He offered empathetically. "You're right, we don't know what it's like to be clones."
Shortly there after, they all departed. So I decided it's time I'd better get up and go see what else I could help with before we got underway.
"Oh there you are?" Babylon smiled. "Everyone's looking for you." He giggled.
"Yeah, I know." I mumbled rather dryly.
"Commander Cody is back here somewhere." Babylon continued as he walked toward the cargo hold loading dock. "He came to say bye to you and Rex and... everyone else." Babylon explained. "Oh there he is. HEY COMMANDER!" Babylon hollered with a whistle.
"What?" Cody said as he came toward us, while Babylon pointed to me.
"I found her!" He grinned.
"Oh good!" Cody's face lit up as he gestured for me to come toward him. "I wish you all the best and hopefully we'll be back this way soon." He said as he grasped my hand and gave it a shake. "Take care of yourself." Cody said soberly as he reached out and hugged me. "OK?" He smiled as he put his hands on my shoulders and gave me a friendly shake.
"Yeah." I kind of shrugged and then smiled back.
"Good." Cody said as he leaned over and kissed the side of my face. Then in a flash he was gone. I only stood there and watched him walk off.
"HEY REX!" Cody yelled across the flight deck as his arms waved furiously over his head. Rex appeared just inside my line of sight as I leaned over and gazed in the direction Cody was waving. Cody sprinted over toward Rex and pounced a bear hug upon him.
"AYE COMMANDER!" I heard Rex holler back as Cody's exuberance nearly knocked both these men to the floor. I stood there and watched a minute as nearly the same scene played out between them, that had previously transpired between Cody and myself. Cody spoke a few minutes before he slapped Rex on the back, put his arms around him and kissed him goodbye too. Rex got a little flustered and waved Cody away. "I'LL BE FINE!" Rex hollered as Cody took a few steps backward and tossed his hands in the air.
"YOU BETTER COME BACK IN ONE PIECE OR I'M GONNA GIVE YOU THE WORST SMACK DOWN YOU EVER DID HAVE!" Cody yelled as he waved his fist in the air.
"I'LL MISS YOU TOO!" Rex yelled back, returning the same arm gesture before the two of them ran off in opposite directions. I wonder if they know? I thought to myself as the haunting premonitions now hung in the forefront of my mind. An eerie feeling came over me as I got a strange impression that this would be the last time they'd ever see each other. I stood for a few more minutes and watched as the busy flight deck was now over run with frantic clones scurrying to get out of the way, while the flight take-off alarm sounded.
"Come on!" Some one slapped me on the back and I quickly turned around. "That's our cue." Babylon gestured as he pointed toward the troop seating compartment. The cargo bay doors began to close as we hurried through the troop door. I jumped in the first free seat as Babylon stopped momentarily to anchor the half hatch. I pulled the security bar down as Babylon slid in next to me and did the same. The transport began to rumble as the pilot fired up the engines. We all dawned our helmets until the engine-man sealed the blast doors.
"WOOOO!" Everyone hooted as it abruptly got pitch black and we began to move. Then all the sudden, the deck lights came on and the compartment got notably quieter. I looked around at the seating arrangements, as I watched some of the guys begin to take their helmets off. I recognized some faces and some armor; as we Jangos weren't exactly the only ones in here. Shiloh was a few seats down and across from me, followed by a troop or two whom I didn't know and Captain Rex. Babylon, of course was on one side of me and some other soldier from the Resolute was on the other. Next to him, I noticed was Ashoka. Interesting? I thought to myself. I wonder why she's on here?
We were compressed together shoulder to shoulder in two rows that faced each other. All close enough that if we stuck our legs out, we could touch the feet of the trooper directly across from us. Some of the men were already doing this; kicking the bottoms of each other's boots. My stomach did a flip, as we rose off the deck, did a 180 rotation and shot out the docking bay into space. The commotion in the compartment got pretty loud, as people were grabbing at unsecured items. Apparently either the gravity plating wasn't working, or someone forgot to turn it on. Men were yelling to the cockpit; but all we got in response was a couple of snickers.
"Hold onto your hats!" The pilot's voice came over the inter-com. "Dampener compression problem. This ride is going to be just like old times!" He chuckled.
"Auugaarrr!" Troopers started to complain.
"Hey!" The pilot broke in. "Now at least you'll stay in your seats!"
"Yeah, like we got a choice?" Someone growled.
"Choice?" Another laughed. "Who's army do you think this is?"
"Not mine." I heard Shiloh reply.
"Sham Shiloh! I wouldn't wanna be in your army!" Another voice started to laugh. "I wanna keep my boys!"
"And why is that?" Came Shiloh's quick retort. "Not like they've seen any action!"
"WOAH!" The compartment filled with giggles.
"And how's he know that?" Came a defensive inquiry.
"Because just like me, you're a clone in a clone army." Shiloh replied. "And we all know what that does to your love life." Every one started to snicker.
"Yeah well, at least I can!" The other trooper chided Shiloh.
"Only soldier who boasts about the power of his... gun is one who's never fired it!" Shiloh replied while everyone else just burst out laughing as they poked and pointed at this poor brother, who was quickly losing ground in this war of the words.
"And how do you know I never fired it?" The trooper laughed at Shiloh.
"Because you haven't been classified STD - Decommission soldier!" Shiloh answered. "And we all know where those brothers have been." Shiloh mumbled with a sigh as the rest of the transport quickly sank into silence. Another unspoken ugly truth about this army. I thought to myself as I looked over at Shiloh; who I now knew had lived that awful reality. But at least his cloners hadn't Euthanized him. The thought drifted through my mind, as I continued gazing at him. He smiled when he noticed me.
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you; says the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Shiloh's quote filled the wordless air. "And I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and palmer-worm, my great army that I sent among you. And you shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God that has dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed."
There was a long pause of silence.
"Amen." A quiet whisper finally broke the hush with a joyful giggle. "He who has thus shown such great love for the cosmos, that he even atoned for the cloned." The voice chuckled.
"And some of us cloned need a lot of atoned!" Shiloh laughed.
"You know it brother!" The trooper responded.
"In more ways then one." I mumbled, though mostly to myself.
I looked around the compartment at the variety of us sitting here. Some were smiling, some sitting quietly; while others squirmed in their seats. I thought about the strange premonitions myself and others have been having and wondered who upon this transport shared them? Did I dare ask? I thought to myself as I looked around some more.
"Seems awful dark in here." An unsettled onlooker muttered.
"What's wrong Captain?" A voice inquired.
"Ah nothing." Rex replied. "I mean; ahh. I just got the creeps that all." He shuttered.
"Yeah, I know. There's a lot of the creeps going around lately." The voice confirmed.
"Yeah, what's up with that?" Someone else added.
"I feel fine." Ashoka broke in.
"Hum" I thought to myself as all the events of my past two days on this ship rewound in my mind. I know she knows something's up? I peered suspiciously at Ashoka. Why is she denying it? I wondered.
"Well, I don't know?" Another trooper inquired. "How do you get rid of the creeps?" He too shuttered. "I've had them for weeks now. I don't care that they are going around; how do I keep them away from me?" He let out a rather forlorn laugh.
"I know how to get rid of the creeps!" The trooper three seats down from me offered, before he suddenly broke into song.
"Be Thou my vision oh Lord of my heart;" He began. "Naught be all else to me save that Thou art. Thou my best thought by day or by night; Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light."
"Yeah, that's a good way to get rid of the darkness." Another chimed in.
"Be Thou my wisdom and Thou my true word." They both sang together. "I ever with Thee and Thou with me Lord. Thou my great Father and I thy true son. Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one."
"Thou my great Father and I Thy true son?" Another trooper interrupted. "Dudes, you're clones! You don't really have a... 'father'".
"Well I beg to differ with you." One of the singers retorted.
"Jango Fett is not our father!" The first said.
"I'm not even talking about him." The other fired back. "The epitome of dead-beat clone army dad." He mumbled. "Wow he gave us armor. The first of which we couldn't even sit down in. Stupid Kaminoans, need a lesson in human anatomy." He started to laugh. "No, I'm talking about the God that created us. He's my Father!" He announced with conviction.
"God?" The first laughed.
"Yes, God! You mean you've never heard of Him?" The other inquired.
"Of course I've heard of God." The first responded rather defensively. "I may be a clone, but I'm not a stupid one!"
"But you still insist that the Kaminoans are the ones that created us?" The other raised another question.
"They may have engineered us; but God gave us life." A third voice interjected.
"Alright brothers, let's not argue." Rex broke in.
"Hey Captain?" One of the men who'd been singing inquired of Rex. "Are your creeps gone?"
"What?" Rex looked at him.
"Do you still have the creeps?" He asked.
"No." Rex let out a chuckle. "You guys are too entertaining."
"See, it works!" The trooper started to laugh as he looked around at his fellow comrades. "Jericho, Babylon; you all like to sing. Come on, help me out here."
"Alright, alright." Someone mumbled.
"For the beauty of the Earth." Babylon began another song.
"No, no, not that one!" The trooper objected.
"What don't you like my music selection?" Babylon inquired.
"Yeah, I like that song, but it's too abstract. I've never been to Earth." The trooper said before he started his own rendition. "For the beauty of Naboo."
"Oh Antioch come on!" Babylon interrupted. "Naboo doesn't rhyme with birth." He pointed out, as others who apparently knew the song started to giggle.
"Well alright, we'll just make up new words!" Antioch laughed as he threw his arms in the air. "For the beauty of Naboo." He went on. "For the day that they cloned you."
"Oh God help us." Shiloh mumbled as he shook his head and rubbed his fingers over his eyes. Several of the other guys though, just burst out laughing.
"For the day this war will end; I will be so glad my friend." Babylon contributed.
"Yeah!" Antioch exclaimed.
"Lord of all to Thee we raise. This our hymn of grateful praise." Several of the men from my own unit cheered together, while some of the others from the Resolute just shook their heads and laughed.
"You guys are so stupid." One of them mumbled while the rest just laughed at him; or rather maybe laughed at themselves. Either way; I thought. It's good not to take ones self too seriously.
"Alright troopers." The pilot's voice suddenly broke the revelry. "We got a situation here. I can't get the port side ground thrusters to fire." He said. "So secure all loose articles and assume crash positions. We'll be hitting the planet's atmosphere in 4.23 minutes."
"Alright you heard him. Let's Go LET'S GO!" Rex hollered as he released his safety bar and hurled himself toward the ceiling. Several other troopers safety bars released too, as they flung and spun their way toward any door, item, or compartment that wasn't securely locked.
"DONE!" Several yelled as those of us still secured began to grab them and pull them back into the empty seats next to us.
"One, Two, Three, Four." Someone started counting the clicks of the safety bars that now held bodies again. Once every man was back secured in a seat, we waited for the pilot's next signal.
"Initiate decompression stabilization sequence 2461#" A voice came over the compartment's overhead speakers as the soldier next to the bulkhead control began frantically pushing buttons and pulling levers. "ASSUME CRASH POSITION!" The voice screamed as blasts of compressed air came shooting into the cabin. I wadded myself up into a ball, hooked my feet around the underside of the seat bar and held on to my legs as tightly as I could. The pressure suddenly dropped and sucked all the air out of my lungs. It felt like my head was about to cave in when the compartment suddenly stabilized. I could breath again, but my head was pounding. The transport rumbled and shook with a fury I'd never known before. I bounced around like a rubber ball. The force of the jolting ship kept slamming my head from one side of the safety bar to the other. Oh God! I cried as my mind drifted out of reality, just before everything went black.
