Part 14: A Moment's Peace
Henry Stone: Separatist Commando/Head Janitor of Sienar Tower
Salvo: Clone Sanitation Engineer of Sienar Tower Mawhak: Weequay Technician
Captain Hart: Storm Trooper officer Commander Elder: Clone Trooper Officer
Wurk: Boltrunian heavy trooper
"What's he under arrest for?!" Salvo stumbles to his feet, angrily spitting each word.
The three Stormtroopers immediately dismiss him and focus on Henry, who motions for Salvo to sit down, "If they were going to arrest me; they would have brought more troopers."
"You don't think we can capture you?" The burly trooper asks.
"Overwhelming numbers can force a surrender instead of a confrontation. Calm down Salvo. Gentlemen, please have a seat. You can call me Henry; I'm just an engineer now. These are my friends Salvo and Mawhak. Would you like a drink?" He motions a waitress over.
"Just water please," the lean officer replies. He pulls off his helmet revealing a dark skinned Human chiseled from rock. He calmly surveys the room with clinical detachment before he settles on Henry. There isn't a centimeter of fat on him; obviously, he pours the same discipline into his physical training as he does his duties. He leans his long rifle against the table and his hand rests on it casually, as if an extension of him. He sits straight and stiffly, very properly. "I'm Captain Hart. To my left is Wurk and on my right is Commander Elder."
The brutish trooper pulls off his helmet revealing a craggy near-human face, hairless with two pairs of heavy brows. His red eyes give as much attention to the room as to three sitting companions, "You really offering to buy us a drink?"
"For a couple of Clone Wars veterans," Henry nods. "Absolutely."
He nods appreciatively, "Corellian Ale."
"Whiskey on the rocks," Commander Elder orders as he pulls off his helmet. He shares the same light brown skin as all Clones. His white-grey beard and hair are shaggy, almost too long for wearing a helmet. His companions give him a look and he shrugs. "What? I'm old."
A tiny smile crosses Hart's face before its wiped clean and he looks at Henry, "Thank you. I came here to seek your insight, as a fellow veteran, and someone who has fought the Empire." Henry motions for him to continue, "What's your take on Port Hardin?"
"They're dumbasses."
"Really?" Captain Hart is clearly surprised and so are his comrades. "Look, I get it; no one is going to openly say anything against the Empire. I'm not ISB and I'm not recording this. Anything you say here is just between us. We're all troopers here."
"I'm not," Mawhak grunts drawing everyone's eyes. "Well I'm not."
"You'd make a good one," Henry's compliment makes her blush. "I appreciate it but I'm serious. They're idiots. They have no planetary shields. At least on Geonocia we had anti-aircraft sonic cannons, fighters, and hordes of droids. We had shields for vital structures. They don't."
"You fought on Geonocia? Which battles?" Wurk asks.
"Just the first, I was there when the Republic invaded. Tough fight, we were driven into the catacombs beneath the surface."
"Those tunnels were a nightmare, bugs were everywhere," Elder notes.
"So you were a Sep from the beginning?" Salvo asks Henry with surprise.
"That wasn't the beginning," Hart points out. "It began on Naboo ten years before."
Henry nods but then Wurk points out, "If you're going to say that, you might as well add the battles with Kaleesh and Bitthevrians too. It all tied together and we fought the same people, again and again, from father to son the war was passed on."
"Were you involved with those battles?" Henry asks him and Wurk nods. "You were a part of the Republic Special Forces? How old are you?"
"I'm almost two hundred years old," Wurk answers. "I'm young for my people; we can live up to seven hundred years."
"Amazing, you must have some great stories."
"Ugh, don't get him started," Elder complains.
"Another time, let's focus on Hardin," Hart redirects the conversation. "How would you, or would have you, worked that situation?"
"Generally insurrections or revolts come down to two primary factors: pride and oppression. If it's a matter of pride, the people believe they can lead themselves better, and seek independence from their leadership. If it's oppression, it's with the intent to cast off their oppressor. Ethnicity, sectarian, and regional lines are your fulcrum. It's very rare for a planet to completely assimilate every group. There's always someone that feels left out, ignored, or underrepresented such as the Quarren on Mon Cal. Aligning yourself with such a group gives you legitimacy for supporting their fight and your troops justification for involvement. You're not an invader, you're a liberator."
"Is that what you think is happening in Port Hardin?" Hart asks.
"Probably, that's where I'd start. It's strategically smart but tactically stupid," Henry insists. "The Hardin are tough and brave. They've resisted every attempt of outside rule for thousands of years but legitimacy and courage is no shield from bombardments."
The three troopers nod, obviously have had experienced that very thing. Henry watches them for a minute before asking, "Why haven't you moved on Port Hardin yet? The Empire doesn't wait. It does not ignore rebellion."
Wurk and Elder look at Hart. Finally he admits, "Command says wait."
"Ugh!" Henry sips his drink. "There's nothing worse than command trying to be cunning. You brought up insurgency; do you know the Confederacy has the dubious distinction of uniting Ryloth? In all of history, no one has every united all the tribes and clans, except us. It's a perfect example of a smart guy doing something really stupid. Half the planet supported the CIS. Then Wat Tambor decided to seize everything of value and turn everyone against us. He was a brilliant scientist and engineer but completely ignorant about strategy."
"Count yourself lucky," Elder replies with a long drink. "Try serving Jedi. With all their training and education, they only knew how to sneak and charge."
"I've heard that," Henry admits. "Quite a few times, we had that imbecile Dooku."
"I thought he was very popular," Captain Hart inquires. "They say he was brilliant."
"Well educated? Yes. Charismatic and well spoken? Absolutely. Brilliant? Nope. He was very good at appearances but sinister as hell. I couldn't stand him; he made my skin crawl. Worst of all, he had clever man syndrome."
"I met him once," Wurk barks with laughter. "He was an arrogant ass."
"Do you mean smart man syndrome?" Elder asks. "Dismissive and egotistical?"
"No. Clever man, he was obsessed with proving he was smarter than everyone else. It didn't matter if a simple plan was the correct action. He needed complicated and multifaceted schemes. Dooku desperately needed everyone to think he'd covered all the angles."
"Real life is messy," Captain Hart says quietly. "Plans have to be flexible."
"Exactly. He simply refused to understand that. He refused to believe sometimes you just have to hit your opponent as hard as you can. You keep hitting them until they're broken."
"I dealt with a few Jedi like that," Elder admits.
"We all did," Hart adds. "That's why the 86s went without for so long."
"You're with the Headhunters?" Henry leans forward. "The original Headhunters, did you fight alongside the Baron of Alderaan?"
"You've heard of us?" Captain Hart grins. It's an honest smile, with actual feeling behind it, from a man that controls every aspect of himself so tightly.
"Yes, that whole bayonet thing," Henry answers.
"What bayonet thing?" Salvo inquires eagerly, Mawhak just as interested.
"Am I interrupting?" Noomie leans against Henry, sweaty from dancing.
"No ma'am," Captain Hart inclines his head slightly to nod.
"Of course not," Henry wraps his arm around her waist and motions to the Storm Troopers. "This is Wurk, Captain Hart, and Commander Elder. This is my wife Noomie."
Wurk gaps and Elder stares. Captain Hart offers, "My pleasure Ma'am."
"She's yours?!" Wurk blurts out, "Wow!"
"Yes!" Mawhak points. "That is how I feel! She is beautiful! He is scraggly."
Henry's wrist communicator beeps and he glances at the ID, "I'm sorry, I have to take this. It's from home."
Immediately Noomie's expression changes but Henry makes a soothing gesture. He steps away from the table and answers the call. Then he lowers his voice, "You're early."
"I'm not in position, we have a complication. Odi snuck out," Boots explains. "Mission status? Should I pursue her?"
Henry hesitates, his heart sinking in his chest and a terrible frantic need rises in him. He wants to call her. He wants to rush out in the speeder and track her down. Instead he squashes the feelings, "Mission status remains the same. You are not to pursue. I…we have to trust her…I don't want to but we have to trust her. The Maker be merciful, I hope she's just went to a party."
"Roger roger."
Henry hangs up and again tries to crush the feelings struggling against his will, the need to seek Odi out, to protect her. He realizes he's being overprotective. She's twenty in spite of the papers that claim she's only seventeen, an adult by every measure. He doesn't care. Odi is his little girl. Finally, he centers himself by focusing on his duty and the threat of the Stormtroopers.
"Is something wrong?" Captain Hart asks as Henry returns to the table.
He smiles, "My daughter snuck out and my servant droid is panicking."
Captain Hart nods thoughtfully but Salvo gives him a look, "You're…handling it well."
"Indeed," Noomie gives him an equally surprised look.
"Oh no," Henry shakes his head and forces a laugh, sipping his drink. "I'm not. I am freaking out. I told her to be in bed by ten-thirty, it's a school night."
"You are such an old man," Noomie laughs and looks at him fondly. "She's seventeen years old. Of course she's going to sneak out; at least she isn't sneaking boys in."
"Ten-thirty?" Mawhak gapes. "I stayed up later than that when I was nine."
"We stayed up later than that in training," Salvo adds and Elder nods.
Henry looks at each of them and turns to Hart, "Help me out here Captain."
He opens his mouth and pauses with a smile, "…at fourteen I sneaked out of the orphanage and joined the 886th as a local scout. Sorry, you're on your own."
"Now that is a story I'd like to hear," Henry sighs. "I trust my daughter. I do but that doesn't mean I have to like it."