Revised: January 12, 2015.

A/N: Thank you to Viking4Ever for providing a correction on this chapter. The couple which shared a common love of art was Kat & Det and not Quinn & Maya. Great catch.

I also received a question re: the expansion of the barracks from one building to a multi-building complex. The layout is based upon the Camp Roberts Barracks in San Luis Obispo county, which I have visited. The original barracks there (which have since been demolished, but I was fortunate enough to go inside them years ago), were built of wood during WWII. They went up very cheaply and quickly and consisted of almost 1,000 buildings. They ended up being built so well they stood for 80 years and were very difficult to knock down. The buildings contained almost of all the same facilities I mentioned for our clones on Ando, except in a much larger scale. I took this concept and made it much simpler for the small fighting force defending Ando, but also with the thinking in mind the population will grow and the barracks will be the main line of defense for Ando. And, perhaps "barracks" is the wrong term. Maybe it should rightly be termed a "military base" since it will be used for the training of men and women and will play such an important role in the town. Thinking through the construction methods was another challenge. Ando is an odd mix of old and new. The planet lacks so many basics due to the devastating war five years ago. Yet, with the modern ships recently stolen from the Kaz'harians and the pieces they are scavenging all over town, the clones are all able to craft together many things. So, I envisioned a "Macgyver" type mentality of making things work. The Andoan military base is being constructed using a combination of traditional wood cabin construction methods, (which wood utilize 16' beams of hewn pine), and the "plank barracks" style you would at a WWII style wooden barracks like Camp Roberts.

Ando

Chapter 29

"You're late," Catcher said to Travis as the Marine arrived on-site at the barracks. A full work crew of clones was already assembled; half the team was working on splitting Andoan conifer into beams and a second crew was working to assemble the split wood into structures.

It was labor intensive work and Catcher had been one of the first to arrive at the site. He'd removed his shirt, sweat streaming down into rivulets on his chest. The puckered scar from his slugthrower wound was still noticeable, but he could move without pain. Between the time in bacta, his days of rest at home, and his tough clone constitution, he was thoroughly recovered from his time at Darkknell.

Travis automatically slipped into place on the opposite side of Catcher. The ARC Captain reached into his leather toolbelt, resting over his rigid work pants. He handed Travis a specialized vibrosaw, and together they hewed the tough bark off the sides.

The barracks were going up quickly, including the ancillary structures they'd decided to add. It was an ideal time for building. The temperature was pleasant enough to be working outdoors, but they could still find some patches of frozen ground which made it easy to haul logs in from the nearby forest. It would be an extensive complex, offering the same facilities they would have on a well-equipped barracks on any established Republic outpost. The completed barracks would include weapons storage, a gym/indoor training facility, sleeping quarters, a rec room for off-duty hours, a small briefing room where the officers could meet, and a mess hall which would double as a space where the entire Legion could assemble indoors. It had been difficult planning how much space they would need for the barracks. Some troopers were still undecided about where they wanted to live, yet all were willing to chip in and help build the project. They'd also allowed room for women warriors who might wish to live on-site and participate in military training. Neither Travis or Catcher had any intention of living in the barracks themselves, but they'd been out working on the project every evening.

"I was at the raider trying to fix the food replicator," Travis said. The soothing smell of fresh cut pine permeated the air, and there was a steady hum of conversation and occasional laughter behind them as their vode worked together.

Catcher quirked up an eyebrow. "Any luck?"

"Eh, I've figured out it's majorely fekked?"

Catcher paused, looking down at a blister on his hands. He stretched out his fingers, readjusted his grip on the tool and went back to work. "Tek and Gears reported the same basically. It wasn't working when we stole the ship from the pirates, so blowing up the galley on Darkknell didn't help it function any better."

"Razor might have some ideas on how to fix it. He thinks differently than the rest of us."

"Alright, I'll comm him in the morning," Catcher said, "not sure what that output of that replicator is, but it could help with the food shortage."

"Won't feed an entire town."

"Doesn't need to," Catcher said, "but, it will help. Thinking we could also use that super-soldier formula Karyn has been having us drink. If it is a complete form of nutrition for us clones, the formula could be tweaked to become a perfect nutrition source for others, too, becoming a more efficient use of our resources."

"Good thinking," Travis agreed. They finished up on their conifer and together moved on to another one. "Karyn came to the raider to talk to me."

"That would explain why you're late."

"I remember an incident where you were late-" Travis started.

Catcher had only ever been late for reporting in once, but Travis never let him forget it. "New topic," the ARC Captain said, the skin on his neck flushing red with embarrassment.

"I want to take over as the head of Ando."

Catcher froze from where he was driving a peg into the hard pine. He stared at Travis, and took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring slightly. "Alright, I'm listening."

"Karyn is working herself to exhaustion. I want to take over."

"You've got the right skills to do it," Catcher agreed. "As long as you keep up with your military duties, I don't have issue with it." He gave Travis his full attention, while still keeping an eye on the men behind him working on constructing the barracks. It was an impressive act of split attention that only command officers seemed able to pull off.

"Appreciated," Travis said, as they both watched Quinn direct a team putting up the mess hall. The combat engineer was experienced in both construction and demolitions, so he was the ideal choice for directing the project. Quinn leaned in and redirected one of the work teams, double-checking the plans from Razor on his datapad. "But, Karyn thinks making any change would need to be approved by the citizens of Ando."

Catcher sighed. "Civvies are so complicated."

"She suggested all of us be offered citizenship."

"Citizenship.," Catcher said the word slowly and carefully, as if testing it out. He signaled to Dart and Torch, working nearby. Catcher had promoted Dart back to his rightful rank of lLieutenant, the title originally stripped away from him by the GAR due to 'behavior issues.'

Travis caught them up on the discussion so far.

"Us? A bunch of civvies? No." Dart folded his arms across his bare chest.

"We wouldn't be civilians," Torch weighed in. "Travis is talking about being granted citizenship. There's a difference."

"On Ando, it means we could vote, own property and change laws," Travis said.

"And, hold elected offices, apparently," Torch said, looking at Travis. "I think it's a good idea."

"Agreed," Catcher said. "Dart?" He looked over at the fourth command clone.

"The idea has merit," Dart admitted. "What do we need to do?"

"Karyn wants us to hold a town meeting," Travis said. "She's also been prompting me to take some action regarding the vatlings."

Catcher sighed heavily. "Honestly Travis, I think it would be simpler if all the vatlings stayed with us. They are our vode. They should stay within the Legion."

"Karyn is getting a lot of pressure from people within the town," Travis said. "They see them as babies. There is a lot of interest in adopting them, and raising them as their own."

"But, they're not really, are they? They're clones. Combatants bred for war, just like us," Catcher countered.

"Townspeople don't see it that way," Travis said. "Their perspective is different from ours."

Catcher fixed Travis with a thoughtful look. "Alright. I think you just appointed yourself person in charge of arranging this town meeting, Travis. But, before we can move ahead, I need an update on the medical status of the vatlings from Lance and Mako."

"I checked in on them on the way over here," Torch said. "Mako says he had some new information for you."

"Good news?"

"Didn't seem like it."

Catcher frowned, and scratched at his jaw. It was grizzled with a day's worth of growth. He looked at Travis. "No meeting until we finish the medical review. As far as we know, these little vatlings could still be ticking time dets."

Blaze wasn't sure exactly what the command team was discussing, but it seemed to be something about dets or explosives. Normally, he'd be interested in listening in, particularly if it involved blowing stuff up, but he had other things on his mind.

He was working on stripping bark from conifer, his shirt off in deference to the mild weather. He didn't mind his brothers seeing his scars, since every one of them sported their own battle injuries. They would never scorn him in the way Jan'is had done. The bark stripper slipped and he narrowly avoided taking off one of his fingers. He usually enjoyed the hard labor of working on the barracks and the steady company of his brothers. It was exhausting work and helped him sleep at night. But, tonight his mind was someplace else entirely and his stomach was twisted into knots. Maybe he should comm Jade and cancel. He jammed the log stripper into one pouch of his leather workbelt, and pulled his comlink out of another deep worn pouch. It buzzed before he could activate it, startling him so much he dropped it into a pile of pine dust.

Working directly opposite him, Storm picked up the comm, blew off the dust of fine wood powder coating it and and heldit out to Blaze.

Don't look at it. Blaze mentally directed the thoughts at his vod.

But, of course. He was a clone. And, clones never minded their own business. The comlink buzzed again. Storm glanced down at it and amusement twitched his lips. "It's Jade. You going to answer it?"

Blaze froze in place.

Yes. No. Gah. I have no fekkin' clue.

Storm shrugged. "Maybe I should answer it, then? She's an attractive woman-"

Blaze yanked the comlink out of Storm's hands. He growled an expletive at his brother which only made the other clone laugh. He thumbed the comm line open, turning his back on the other clone for a modicum of privacy. "Blaze." His voice rasped out harsher than he'd intended.

There was a pause from the other end, and then Jade's word's tumbled out in a rush. "Hi. I'm done on the ship, and I'm starving. Can I meet you over at the Field?"

Blaze's throat went dry. He struggled for a way to think of an excuse to get out of it. His brothers were surreptitiously looking over at him, while still pretending to work.

"Blaze?" Jade prompted.

"I…"

Storm stepped into his line of sight and signaled to him. Say yes.

Blaze shook his head no.

Storm pulled a tool off his belt and dramatically pantomimed he would slice off Blaze's male parts with a vibroblade if he didn't. The RC responded back with clone sign language and told Storm exactly into which body orifice he could shove the vibro blade-

"Blaze? Are you still there?" Jade's voice startled him to the point the comlink dropped out of his hands again. He made a grab for it, and barely managed to catch it before it returned to the pine dust.

Storm doubled over laughing.

Blaze shot him a murderous look.

"Blaze?" Jade's confused voice sounded from the comm.

She was going to end the comm call if he didn't respond.

"Yes!" Blaze ended up shouting into the comm as he clumsily brought it back up to his face, his voice much louder than he'd originally intended.

"Great! See you soon," Jade chimed happily, ending the comm.

Blaze returned the torturous device to his belt. He sank down on a nearby piece of lumber. He shot a murderous glance toward Storm, who was laughing so hard he could barely get air in. The clone's entire demeanor had changed during his time on Ando, and it was apparently all due to a special woman who'd given the volatile trooper a new outlook on life.

"You need to lighten up," Storm said, in between gasps of laughter.

"Have a date tonight, vod?" Hugh came over, drawn by the commotion. He slid an arm over Blaze's bare shoulders. "You look a little… worried."

Blaze scowled down at Hugh's arm touching him. Even if he was comfortable enough to take off his shirt, he didn't appreciate his bare skin being touched.

"Leave him be, Hugh," Tomm said, from where he was seated on a nearby piece of lumber sharpening up an auger, his still healing foot propped up on another piece of wood. "The last thing he needs is advice from you."

"Now, don't be so hasty there. I happen to consider myself very knowledgeable in the ways of women."

"Hardly," Tomm snorted. "You've dated one girl."

"And, she's crazy about me. A perfect track record."

"Maybe he should ask the advice of a more intelligent clone, like the Captain," Tomm said.

"I heard my name," Catcher said, coming over with Travis.

"Someone's lit a fire under Blaze here, Captain," Hugh explained, his eyes twinkling with amusement at his own cleverness. A number of the vode joined in on the laughter, as this was about as good as it got for clones when it came to gossip. Blaze pulled Hugh's arm off his shoulders and cast him a look of annoyance.

"A hot meeting for our Blaze," Storm said, and even Catcher cracked a smile.

"Tomm here seems to think he needs lady advice from a real man, Captain," Hugh explained.

"Not sure I'm good at giving advice when it comes to women-" Catcher started.

Blaze heaved a sigh of relief, hoping he could simply go back to his work.

"However-"

Oh, fek it.

Catcher stretched out, cracking his back, and came over and settled onto the piece of lumber next to Blaze. It took him a moment to hoist himself up, his movements with his mech legs slightly less graceful than that of an average clone, but he managed and kept his balance. He was an example to the rest of them in how to adapt, and it was one of the many qualities Blaze admired about the Captain. "- if you want my advice," he fixed the RC with a stern look, "which I doubt you do, but you are going to get anyway. Ashla and I connected on a mental level before we connected physically. "

Blaze swallowed audibly. Jade was family to Ashla, the Captain's woman. What would the ARC Captain do to him if he messed this up?

"A mental connection. That's true. But, it was the opposite for me. Make room, Hugh," Travis said, hopping up onto the other side of Blaze, and shoving in right next to the commando, "Karyn and I connected physically first. It was always hot and passionate between us, sometimes too much so. And, while no clone is going to complain about exercising his Jango, you can't base a long term relationship on it. Catcher is right, you have to connect both physically and mentally."

"Did you just agree with me, Travis?" Catcher reached behind Blaze and teasingly shoved at the Marine, causing him to nearly toppled forward off the lumber.

Travis laughed, and caught his balance with the easy grace of someone who was in peak physical condition.

Mental and physical. Blaze tried to take in all of this advice. Jan'is had only wanted him for sex. What sort of connection did he have with Jade?

"Kat and I share a love for art," Det volunteered, "it was one of the first things I noticed about her."

"Xyra is passionate about nature," Hok said, "and I love being outdoors."

A common interest.

"Aen is the first woman I could ever hold a conversation with," Dart admitted.

Dart could hold a conversation?

Blaze reeled from this new piece of information.

"There's so much more to a relationship than sex," Catcher summarized.

A number of the troopers listening in looked puzzled, as if this strategic information was difficult to process.

"Captain, a question?" Tuck called out from the group of clones clustered around. "So, what if you're with a woman and she-"

"Am I interrupting something?" Jade called out from the far edge of the worksite.

All of the clone heads turned as one.

"Oh, fek, she's here," Blaze gasped, looking around in a panic for his shirt. Storm tossed it to him. He caught it easily and yanked it over his head.

"Time to deploy, commando," Travis said, slapping Blaze on the back.

"Good luck, vod," murmured Det. The other troopers all muttered similar words of encouragement as the scarred trooper slid off the lumber and headed over toward Jade.

"Hello," Blaze said, greeting Jade. He took a deep breath, leaned over and brushed his lips against her cheek. He was aware of all of his brothers watching them.

Don't fek this up. Don't fek this up.

He stood in the muddy street staring at her for an awkward moment, not sure what to do. Likewise, her gaze raked him up and down, and he was suddenly self-conscious of his simple work clothes. "I should change," he blurted out.

"No," Jade said immediately, "you look perfect."

He continued to study her and saw she was speaking the truth. She completely accepted him as he was, as she always had every time they were together. He blurted out the first thing that came to mind, the one thing that he'd wanted to say since he'd met her. "You look beautiful." Jade's face lit up with a smile broader than he'd ever seen from her before.

Blaze extended out his arm in the way he'd seen some of the other clones doing around town when they walked around with their women. No other words seemed necessary. Behind him, he felt the approving looks of his brothers as they looked on. Jade gripped his arm tightly, pressed into his side as they walked on together down the muddy streets of Ando.

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