Orto Plutonia arc

Orto Plutonia - Part 1

No one knew about the hand against her back except him and Chopper. Kev, in anxious curiosity, kept his mouth closed. What if she complains? Chopper will blame me and they'll listen to him. Kriff, I should have had the memory running so I'd have proof. He flicked on the helmet's sensor record, but it was too late for what had already happened.

When she turned and smiled at them both, a gentle smile of pained bravery, Kev started to relax. He even smiled in his helmet when he realized he had a holo of Senator Chuchi smiling at him. Maybe when they got back to Coruscant, Ash would be there and visit for another game of sabacc; maybe he could ask for a helmet memory of her as well. It would be nice to share them with Kru and Marker. He would tell them how the Senator had reacted to the touch of a strong hand on her back and how he had played sabacc with a woman who knew the names of over 100,000 planets. That had been a good night and, afterwards in the dark, it had even been a good conversation with the two brothers and Chopper. Not as good as with Kru or Marker though.

Kev's smile twisted into a frown. He hadn't seen Kru or Marker since being assigned to Chopper's barracks. Granted, it had only been a few days, but he knew their schedules and they should have been in the mess when he went there. He should have seen them in the gym. Echo had grumbled at his obvious discomfort but Echo had his brother; neither of them seemed to really like Kev.

He hoped they hadn't been re-assigned. He'd talk to Captain Rex; except in dealing with Chopper, he seemed a fair man. If he had reassigned them… Kev closed his eyes for an instant. He'd begged the captain to keep them together, to give them back to Sergeant Zeer, even if he had to stay with Chopper.

In formation, they all moved back to the hangar deck. Senator Chuchi asked for her pack from Chopper and claimed one of the two small cabins on the Twilight to prepare for Orto Plutonia. Fives and Echo took the armor into the cargo hold and came back, arctic ready, Fives patting Echo on the shoulder as he checked a line of the armor.

Echo laughed and pulled off the helmet, ventailed with heavy leather to block the wind. It looked far heavier than the regular helmet and Kev swallowed. He'd never worn arctic gear; wasn't even sure how to put it on, though they should have had training in it. Kev frowned; they'd been shorted an awful lot of training.

Chopper nodded at the two brothers and strode toward the rear of the Twilight.

"Don't worry, Kev." Fives smiled and turned his face to the trooper. "Chopper will help you lock in."

Kev was sure he didn't want that and his reluctance must have shown. Fives grabbed him on the shoulder. Kev tensed and halted. The Jedi were ready, waiting in the hangar, and Senator Chuchi was already with them, seated on a crate reading through her papers. They were waiting on him and Chopper.

"Don't hold on to your anger, Kev." Fives voice was soft, barely audible to Echo who continued toward the gunships, his body a barrier between the Jedi and his two brothers. "It's only hurting you."

Kev frowned; pushed Fives hand away and continued after Chopper.

Chopper was removing his armor but still had his helmet on. There was a ping and download into Kev's helmet then Chopper pulled off his bucket and set it in the magnetic grip of an armor lock next to Echo's armor.

"I just sent you Echo's download on arctic armor." Chopper had his back to Kev as he continued setting his armor in the locks. "The short version, edited by Fives." There was a hint of humor in his voice. He stripped out of his body glove and reached into the gear bag next to his armor lock.

Kev took a quick glance at his scars. Kriff! All the way down to the backs of his calves!

Chopper slid his warmsuit over his body and snapped the connecters. Kev had the single unit warmsuit and stepped into it, glad that Echo had been thorough in packing.

As Chopper turned toward the plain armor and picked out the thigh plates, he glanced up as Kev picked up the chest plate. Chopper stilled, chewing the inside of his cheek.

"What?' exclaimed Kev belligerently.

Chopper continued chewing his lips knowing Kev didn't want his advice. "Echo and Fives determined that the quickest way to gear up is mids, in, out, bottom to top. Cuisses and rerebraces first, greaves and vambraces next. Then feet, body and hands."

Kev looked at Chopper, thighs and upper arms already armored, his greaves in his hand. Kev carefully set the chest plate down and picked up the armor for his upper legs. Simply because he didn't like Chopper didn't mean Kev wouldn't listen to advice, especially from grumbling Echo. Chopper turned and said nothing more as he continued armoring up.

Kev slipped his helmet back on and ran through the download as he armored himself per Echo's dictates. Like any trooper, he could armor up in the dark and nine-tenths asleep. Still, it felt oddly clumsy; putting armor on this way, like firing a blaster with your off hand, but there was no doubt it was faster. He decided he'd make a habit of it.

The arctic set had some differences; the internal metal pieces had been replaced by a different locking mechanism that wouldn't freeze or shatter in sub-zero temperatures. Passive heater lines augmented the warmsuit which was separated from the armor by floating nerf-hide panels to keep out wind. His fingers were slower on this armor, feeling the unfamiliar locks, making sure everything was in place.

Kev was armored up and starting his double-check when he felt a tap on his shoulder and pulled off his helmet.

"Double-check me, Kev. I'll do the same for you or you can ask Fives once we get on the gunship."

Kev nodded slowly. Once on the gunship, he'd ask Echo to double check him. If there was one thing he had discovered in the last several days it was that Echo had all the correct answers to technical questions.

"It's well insulated. I barely felt you tap me in the shoulder." Chopper had taken the plain armor; it was Chopper's habit in the 501st, but he could have taken the marked armor among another company so they wouldn't think him a shiny. Instead Kev, who knew himself for the raw shiny among this group, had marked armor. Nicely marked, too. Someone's put some attention to this armor. Kev gritted his teeth; Chopper didn't – couldn't - mean the kindness. Kev would ignore him as much as he could without bringing it to the attention of Captain Rex.

"I tapped you once. When you didn't react, I gave you a hit with my fist." Chopper sucked in one cheek. "Very well insulated, then."

Kev quickly ran over Chopper's armor with his hands and eyes; touching and tugging, measuring. "You have warmsuit material puckering…" Kev paused, suddenly realizing why Chopper's warmsuit had extra material between his fore and the armor covering his lower abdomen; where Commander Tano had curled up and survived. Chopper was unmoving, taut with tension, waiting for a remark from Kev.

"Uh," Kev swallowed, resolutions dissolving. This was too raw a nerve between them. "Maybe you could fold the excess inward so it won't interfere with the armor?" Kev lightly touched where the material bunched between the two pieces of armor and a wind panel. "May I?"

Chopper's hard expression didn't change, but he did give a small nod. Quickly, Kev pushed the material back between the armor, then slid his hand under Chopper's breastplate and wiped the material back, trying to push the stretched-out material into the slight hollow space at the small of the back. "Maybe straighten it in the gunship, or when we reach Orto Plutonia. Pull the extra to your back." Kev licked his lips. "The elements are all stretched out. You'll have to get a replacement."

The turtleneck of the warmsuit was barely above the rim of his armor and Chopper pinched the material, pulling it up even as he bent his head down and took a deep breath, his eyes closed. "It smells of sunlight, Kev. There's no other warmsuit in the galaxy I'd trade for it." His voice was soft. Then his mismatched eyes opened and he put his hands on Kev's shoulders, tugging and adjusting, making sure Kev had set the armor up correctly. They both grabbed the arctic helmets which were considerably heavier than the normal Phase I buckets, and strode down the ramp to the waiting gunships where the pilots were prepping for dust-off.

Fives, his borrowed armor blue edged, was talking to Senator Chuchi. He pointed to Kev and Chopper.

"….mor is Chopper while Kev is in the set with the shoulder strips."

"Thank you for letting me know, Fives. I will, at least, be able to distinguish you among the others." She gazed up into Five's helmet face and smiled flirtatiously, "with the possible exception of Chopper. With no color markings, he might get lost in the snow." Her face turned toward the two on-coming troopers and she smiled at them.

Kev was dumbfounded. She was being nicely flirtatious with Fives and Kev recognized it. He almost tripped over his own feet at her smile to him. And why would she want to be able to identify them among their brothers? From her point of view, they were all just clones, pretty much interchangeable.

"We'll try not to lose him, Senator." General Skywalker gave her a quick grin. The dark line of a warmsuit was at the throat of his Jedi tunic and a fur-lined hooded coat was held over his arm.

"If we do," commented Captain Rex, his helmet under his arm, and his face firm in conviction. "We'll make sure to go find him." While Rex was being gallant, there was also the ring of truth in his quiet words.

Again, Kev almost stumbled. Here, again, was evidence that Chopper was valued as a member of Torrent Company and the 501st. Having friends like Fives and Echo was normal for a clone, but Chopper had friends – or at least influence – beyond a simple clone's. For a moment, Kev felt a flash of jealousy, but he pushed it back. Observe, he told himself. Watch. Listen. Notice.

Chairman Cho and his two guards, younger than the two earlier, entered the hangar deck. Behind them were four ten-man squads from General Kenobi's company.

Kev saw Chopper slide on his helmet and take up Senator Chuchi's flank. He saw the small, tense lines on her face that hadn't been there moments ago. Without thinking about it, Kev moved in position with Chopper, guarding her other side, his helmet marking him on-duty, the blaster marking him as battle-ready.

"General Kenobi," the chairman's voice called out and Jedi General Kenobi turned to the regal figure. "I strongly protest the small number of men you are bringing with you."

"Chairman Cho. These are the men I am bringing. This is merely an investigation to determine what has happened." His voice was steel and Chairman Cho blinked in surprise but recovered quickly.

"Nonetheless, General, I will lodge a complaint if these men are insufficient."

There was a laugh in Kev's helmet and he realized that Fives, Echo and Chopper were closed channel with him.

"If we're insufficient, then he won't be alive to lodge a complaint." It was Echo's grumbling.

Kev couldn't help himself from straightening. He had marked armor and they were closed channel with him. He knew things would be 'normal' when they returned to the barracks; he'd be the outsider, but this was good. Right now, facing an unknown situation and a semi-hostile local authority, they accepted him as part of their squad.

"Your logic, Echo," retorted Fives. "Is as impeccable as always."

Read and review; enjoy and comment. Next stop? Orto Plutonia.