Last chapter of this arc! Please leave your ideas for one-shots/short-arcs in the reviews! Thanks!
New Addition (Aftermath of Umbara pt6)
Some people don't deserve second chances, and some do
Dogma sat in a room with the prosecutors, defense, Palpatine, a couple of members from the Jedi Council, Aliyah, and Steele. They were discussing the next steps of his sentence.
"CT-5140 shall be placed under careful watch by General Korentayer. Any hints of suspicious or treasonous behaviour will result in his immediate detainment." Palpatine explained.
"I'd like to know why the plea bargain sentence was changed without our notice," Senator Organa demanded.
"What's this? The defense wasn't notified of the change?" Palpatine looked at Senator Burtoni.
She answered coolly. "I must've failed to contact you, Senator Organa. Apologies on my part. The change was rather last-minute."
"What made you decide to change the sentence?" Anakin asked.
"As a Kaminoan, I suddenly realized that my people put a lot of work in creating our clone army. And we have a lot of pride in it. So we shouldn't discard a creation without giving it a second chance. As long as it—he is willing to plead guilty and take responsibility for his actions. That's why."
Steele was glad his helmet was on. So nobody could see his satisfied smirk.
Only he knew that the prosecution 'failed to contact the defense' because their reputations were on the line. And he was willing to go to court to prove their lies. IF Dogma's final verdict was guilty.
Nobody questioned more from Burtoni or Tarkin. So they moved onto the next topic: Dogma's limitations and imposed rules in his new legion.
"He's not allowed to lead even small squadrons. And anything he does while in battle, requires supervision by a clone with at least one year of experience in the legion. Unless General Korentayer orders otherwise." Mace Windu read from a datapad.
Aliyah nodded. Mace continued reading.
"If circumstances occur where he is separated from his general, commander, or any clone with at least a year of experience. Then he is to assume the closest able-bodied soldier as his supervisor. If circumstances occur where he is alone. He is to prioritize regrouping with his legion and nothing else."
"It seems a bit overboard," Anakin remarked.
"Let Korentayer be the judge of that." Mace threw back.
"It does seem a bit overboard," Aliyah admitted. But quickly took it back when Steele coughed loudly to cover up his general's poor choice of words. "But…I completely understand. I'll comply with the rules. And so will Dogma."
"Then we're done here." Palpatine stood up from the table. "I wish you and the newest addition to your legion, good luck."
While everyone else was leaving, Anakin went to Dogma. He embraced him tightly.
"You were a good soldier, Dogma. You really were. I'll miss having you around."
Dogma hugged his former general back. "I'll miss you too, sir."
They eventually let go and prepared to leave. Dogma left the room with Steele so Anakin could talk to Aliyah in private.
"He really is a good soldier." He asserted. "I hope he realizes that again while under your command."
"I'll make sure he does. Don't worry about a thing, Skywalker."
"Think he'll fit in with the rest?"
Aliyah nodded. "It might be difficult at first. But yes, he'll definitely fit in."
That made Anakin at peace. "Then I'm not complaining about this trial's conclusion. Thank you. And thank your commander."
~ O O O ~
Rex and several of his men sat patiently in the lobby of the dorm-suite building. They were still in shock by the trial's conclusion.
None of them had spoken a word since then.
The front door opened. And in walked Steele and Dogma. Who was uncuffed at last.
Tup was the first one out of his seat. He rushed up to Dogma and hugged him as if he just came back from the dead.
Everyone else soon followed. Dogma never felt so happy to see his brothers.
"Thank you," he cried. "Thank you all for defending me."
"No, thank you. For believing in us and yourself." Rex wrapped his arms around his former soldier. "We're gonna miss you."
Steele watched patiently from behind. Even though, he's on a time limit. He's more than willing to negotiate for a few extra minutes.
After all, it'll be a long time before Dogma can see his former comrades again.
Rex soon ends his embrace with Dogma so others can take a turn. He goes up to Steele.
"I can't thank you enough."
"Thank Boil. If it's not for his story, I wouldn't have had the courage to do what I did."
Rex nodded. "I'll be sure to thank Boil too. And I'll let General Skywalker know this was because of you."
"Be careful, though. I probably broke like ten rules getting them to change the sentence like that."
"Yet you did it anyway."
"Yeah. But honestly, it was more like a fail-safe. I was really confident you'd be able to sway the Senators with your testimony."
"I did. General Skywalker told me that the majority voted for Dogma being not guilty." Rex shook his head. "Unfortunately, the verdict needed to be unanimous."
"That's what I was afraid of. Some Senators have really thick skulls. But at least they're in the minority this time."
Rex nodded in agreement. Then took a look at Dogma, who was in the centre of a group hug. All his huggers were wishing him luck in his new legion.
"Stay safe with General Korentayer."
"You don't need to be worried about anything. They're nice folks, they really are."
"We'll come visit whenever possible. Ok?"
Seeing Dogma alive and free made Rex feel at peace.
"Hey," he said his final thoughts to Steele. "Take care of him."
"I'll do my best," Steele promised.
Less than a minute was remaining until Dogma had to go. Everyone was sad. But it was a bittersweet sadness.
This isn't goodbye. It's just a 'see you later'.
~ O O O ~
The trial was over. Which meant it's back to fighting the war. Anakin and Obi-Wan got word of an alliance between the neutral world, Kiros, and the Separatists.
They and their men were dispatched almost immediately.
Dogma said his final farewells to his brothers before boarding the Republic star destroyer. Where his new legion awaited him.
The destroyer took off for Kamino.
Dogma sat in a private room, waiting for his new general to enter. Which she did, seconds later.
"Hello Dogma, I'm Aliyah Korentayer, your new general. I know you already know that. But it never hurts to make things formal."
"Yeah," Dogma agreed softly. The events of the trial still haven't left him completely.
Aliyah took a seat. "I'm just going to go over some quick intros. Since this is an onboarding."
Dogma nodded.
"Ok. I think I'll address the elephant in the room first. Don't be afraid of us. We're not going to judge you because of the trial. In fact, we all believe that you were justified in your actions, I can assure you that."
"Thanks," Dogma answered.
Aliyah smiled. "Now, about the monthly report. I won't be judgmental when writing it. But I won't be biased either. It's just going to be a summary of your actions over the past month. That's all there is to it."
Dogma wasn't sure about that. "No. The Senate will be sure to magnify anything that resembles sedition."
"Not if I can help it."
"No, you don't understand!" Dogma began speaking faster. "They'll find a way! They always manage to find a way, sir—miss—general—blast it—"
"—Calm down, calm down."
"I'm sorry."
"You got nothing to be sorry for."
Dogma took a couple of deep breaths at Aliyah's encouragement. Then resumed the talk after his heart rate returned to normal.
"What kind of tasks will I be doing?" Dogma asked.
"Think of the tasks you've done when you were just a rookie. You're starting over here, going from the bottom-up. And I have no doubt that you'll get back to where you were in the 501st. Maybe even surpass that."
This was all Dogma's wanted. A second chance to right his wrongs.
"I'll do my best to not make a bad rep for you or the 304th." He promised.
"I'll hold you to that. Commander Steele will brief you on your first task once we reach HQ."
"Got it."
"Good." Aliyah stuck out her hand. "Welcome, to the team, Dogma."
Dogma didn't move for a second. He couldn't believe it. A couple hours ago, he was in a courtroom, expecting the death sentence. Now he's the newest member of the 304th.
He tentatively reached out to his new general's hand, and shook it. Though awkward at first, he eventually felt at ease and happy.
"Thank you, general."
~ O O O ~
The instant the ship landed on Kamino, Dogma went off to look for his new commander. Steele made it easy to find him.
"Dogma, over here!" Steele waved him over.
"Sir!" Dogma went up to him. They walked inside the building. "General Korentayer said that you got work for me."
"Did she brief you on how things are gonna work from now on too?"
"Yes, sir."
"So you know it's ok to loosen up around me, right?" Steele pointed at the way Dogma's holding himself next to him.
Dogma immediately flinched. "Sorry, sir!"
"Enough with the 'sir's'."
"Yes, s—" Dogma catches himself this time. "Um…what should I call you then?"
Steele waved his hand. "Nothing. No 'sir', 'commander', or any of that stuff. Unless it's something serious."
They passed the training rooms and mess hall. Dogma still didn't feel too good about dropping the honorific.
"Um, so do you make everyone else in the 304th do the same?" He asked timidly.
"No. This rule is specifically for you," Steele explained as they turned around the corner. "Back in the 501st, you were quite the rule abider, weren't you?"
…"Because you were the biggest fool of them all, Dogma! I needed blind loyalty like yours to make my plan work!"...
Dogma shook those memories from his head. "I was…"
"And Krell took advantage of that."
To both their surprise, Steele managed to utter Krell's name without lacing it with hate. He looked over at Dogma.
"But you broke free. And we're going to make sure you never get locked up again. So let loose, relax, and enough with formalities."
Dogma looked around. He could see that they were nearing the restrooms. Steele opened the pristine white door. They entered the restroom.
"Dogma, you may be starting from rock-bottom again. But you're not going to be just a follower this time, alright?"
"Alright." Dogma said with more confidence this time.
"Good, because your first task is to make sure he does his job properly!"
Steele pointed in front of them. On the floor, in front of a toilet, was Compass. He was scrubbing the base of the white-throne with a sponge.
Dogma blinked. "Um, I'm in charge of him…?"
"Hey, commander! Hey, Dogma!" Compass waved a soapy gloved hand at them. "Looks like I'm the first person you're getting to know. Sorry that we're meeting this way."
"Can it." Steele snapped. "I still haven't forgiven you yet."
Compass sighed and returned to scrubbing the toilet. Steele crossed his arms while explaining to Dogma.
"Make sure he gets every inch of the surface. If he misses a spot, point it out to him. It needs to be so clean, you can see your reflection in it, before he can get a break."
Dogma nodded. "Ok. But…"
"But…?"
"There's a lot of toilets here. And this is only one of many restrooms—"
"—Which is why I'm making him do this." Steele glared at Compass. "You don't wanna know how much this little punk spent on drinks back at Coruscant. And he had the audacity to pay for half of it with my money!"
Now Dogma understood the reason behind this punishment. But he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Compass. Nonetheless, he'll do his job.
"I'll make sure he scrubs everything clean."
Taking one last look at Compass, Steele decides to take his leave. He reminds Dogma one last time before walking out the door.
"Remember: spotless."
With that, Steele leaves the restroom. And Dogma turned to Compass. "Um, keep scrubbing."
"Eh, not quite there. You need to say it with more tenacity." Compass advised.
Dogma now realized that everyone's in on helping him improve. Help him to not be a follower. He repeats himself, this time with more vigour.
"Scrub like it's the Chancellor's chair."
Compass's scrubbing intensifies.
~ O O O ~
Steele sat in the training overview room. His eyes focused on the cadets practising down below. But his mind was focused on Dogma.
"Hey!" A pair of hands suddenly planted on his shoulders.
He jerked. And turned around to see Aliyah. "Don't scare me like that, general."
"You seriously didn't hear the door open?" She pointed behind her. The same door closed—rather loudly.
"No, I didn't."
"Ah, because Dogma's on your mind." She answered without even asking. "I still can't believe you have him looking after Compass. I thought you said you stopped hating him."
"If I still hated him, I'd be making him scrub toilets with Compass. Besides, if I give him something that doesn't remotely seem 'barrel-bottom', the Senate might call us out."
Aliyah frowned. "Hmm. That's true."
"If it's not for the monthly report, I'd probably make him shadow someone like Kal. But I knew that the Senate would never accept Dogma being given a second chance just like that. So I included that detail in my changed plea bargain sentence."
"I'm impressed." Aliyah took out a chair next to Steele and sat. "You were able to get the prosecutors to change the sentence just like that. What'd you blackmail them with?"
"Evidence that Eeno Vee is a liar. And that they knew it too."
"What was Senator Burtoni's face like when you told her that her own prime minister would know Vee's lying?"
Steele chuckled. "Priceless. Don't tell anyone I said that."
"Doesn't matter. It's over now. We have dirt on them and they have dirt on us." Aliyah leaned back in her chair. "As long as they leave Dogma alone, there's no need for trouble."
Steele nodded. He knew that Senator Burtoni wouldn't have the guts to downgrade Dogma anymore. But others who weren't swayed by the defense's argument might.
Nonetheless, he and the entire legion are prepared to take that on.
"You know what, general? I realized something."
"What?"
"Everyone here has been wronged by Krell one way or the other. Heck, we might as well rename this legion 'victims of Krell'." Steele let out a sarcastic laugh.
"'Survivors of Krell' is more accurate," Aliyah corrected.
"Can't argue with that." Steele agreed. He turns himself to face Aliyah fully. "Thanks to you."
"Dogma is thanks to you."
Dogma is thanks to many people and factors which influenced me to help him out. Steele thought. But in the end, he made the final decision.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Steele turned back to his previous direction.
He continued to watch the cadets practice. As he watched them, Aliyah watched him. Waiting until she felt it's right to ask her question.
"So, I guess that means you're over Krell?"
Instead of reacting violently, Steele kept himself calm and slowly sat straight. Aliyah could sense this wasn't a facade.
He felt conflicted, but not in a bitter way.
"I won't ever forget about my time with him. All those memories and the pain associated with them. But I also won't let those memories dictate me now. What happened is in the past. Krell is dead in the present. And I don't plan on letting his corpse follow me into the future."
Steele stood up, preparing to leave the room. Aliyah did the same. They walked towards the door.
"Besides," Steele continued. "Hating him will only waste my time and energy. So…yeah. I forgive him."
Aliyah brought a comforting hand to his shoulder. And pulled him a bit closer to her. She was amazed by her commander's strength.
Forgiving his past abuser. Someone who time and time again, risked his life needlessly, subjected him to unbearable pain, and even left permanent scars on him. Is not easy.
Not many have the courage to do something like that. Even Aliyah—a trained Jedi—herself doesn't think she'd be able to forgive Krell if she was in Steele's shoes.
That's one of the many things she finds remarkable in him.
~ O O O ~
Compass has been scrubbing the same toilet for the past 20 minutes. But Dogma insisted it wasn't clean enough.
"I still can't see my reflection in it," he said coarsely.
"I can see mine," Compass quipped.
"It's not my reflection."
"It kinda is."
Dogma quickly disguised his snicker as a cough. When was the last time he heard this kind of humour?
Compass returned to scrubbing. He ignored all of the loud voices and footsteps outside the restroom. Dogma took a look at the time.
It was lunch.
"Hey, I'm gonna head to the mess hall. Do you want anything?" He asked.
"Yeah, just get me dessert."
Dogma took note of that. He headed out the door. "Alright, I won't be long."
Compass was left by himself. He didn't let that bother him. The restroom echoed with squeaks from the sound of his sponge rubbing the toilet bowl.
Suddenly, Dogma re-entered. "On second thought, would you like to take a break?"
Compass put down his cleaning supplies. "Are you sure?"
"I think so? I mean, I am in charge of you…and I kinda feel bad…" Dogma admitted.
"Don't feel bad, I put this on myself. You, on the other hand, deserve better." Compass removed his soap-stained gloves and stood up. "Let's go get lunch."
He walked Dogma out the door. "I'll introduce you to everyone."
End of Aftermath of Umbara arc. The Clone's Hero will be back for Clone Force 99 arc.
In the meantime, I'll be posting one-shots or short arcs based on all your suggestions! :)
Review responses~
Starpottergeek: Thank you! I hope you liked this chapter!
Radicalewe3: Dogma's starting a new life here. It's a second chance and his new comrades are going to help him embrace it.
Rodger Rodger: Hmm, I could think of something with that idea. I'll see what I could do with it. You want to include Orto Plutonia in it, correct? And btw, I do like fluff. But sometimes, it gets in the way of my writing because I can't focus on plot anymore XD. But anyways, sharing body heat sounds adorable. I might use that. Thanks!
Flixswitch135 (1st review): Holy...that's really detailed. I replied to your pm about my take on accepting new story ideas right now. Please check your inbox for that message. As for the arc involving Aliyah escaping the empire, that takes place after Order 66, so I'm afraid I can't accept it. But if you have other ideas for one-shots/short-arcs, I'm all ears!
Flixswitch135 (2nd review): You want me to include Obi-Wan? Alright, I'll tap into the reservoirs of my imagination and see what I can come up with! :)
Flixswitch135(3rd review): Is that a separate story idea? Or a short-arc idea?
Akira-Hayama: Oh yeah, he's definitely welcomed with open arms. He's the guy who did what everyone in the 304th dreamed of doing: killing Krell. They'll make him feel like family.
Guest: Well, the conversation is between Steele and Rex. But it still involves one telling the other Dogma will be taken care of XD! And thanks for your support! This is hard work for me, but I enjoy it!
Rebiele: Thank you! It was one of my favourite novels back in high school! I wish I have a copy of it around! Could use some more reading during this quarantine time!
tobiasmblume (sorry ffn document manager doesn't like dots): It'll come! It'll come! But it might a bit of a slow-burn. Though I'll definitely show more hints towards romance in the series of one-shots and short-arcs coming up.
AUfan62: Thank you! I hope you liked my court-drama arc!
Sued13: I always wanted more for Dogma too! But the show kinda made him disappear after the Umbara arc, so I took it into my own hands with this arc! :)
A/N. Whew! And another arc is finished! I know it's a lot shorter compared to the previous one, but that's because I was originally going to end this story after the intro arc!
I've decided to put a series of one-shots/short-arcs between this and the next major arc because I think it'd be nice to bring in some light-hearted stuff. (So please put forth your ideas. I've already started reading them and deciding which ones to use. Just remember: don't involve Order 66. I already have an ending planned.)
Especially after all the serious issues dealt in this arc, and more serious issues that'll be coming up in the Clone Force 99 arc.
As of right now, I have in total, 5 major arcs planned. Intro and Aftermath of Umbara are done. Clone Force 99 is the next one. And I have two more after that.
Thanks for reading this far and please favourite, follow, and review if you enjoyed! If you have questions, please email me. I have a gmail account with username 'fanficwriteronthelake'.
I shall see you all next time! :)
- MiraLake