I'm gonna pretend 30 minutes past 12 still counts as the previous day. Sorry, had another rough day of endless work. These next 2 weeks are going to bring me back to the grave, but NO! I shall keep on striving forward until all my chapters are finished! For you guys, anything's possible! :)

Unexpected Allies (Final pt6)

Help can come from anywhere, and enemies can become allies

Rol Elav was finalizing some test data from a currently ongoing neural scan. He and his colleagues had Kal sedated then subjected to a series of micro-readings. It wasn't painful—thankfully—but it was time-consuming. And Trench was running out of patience.

"Well? Have you found anything intriguing?" The Admiral asked.

"Yes," Dr. Elav answered without even looking up from the monitors, "I have found something intriguing."

"What? Tell me." Trench walked—a little more excitedly than usual—next to him. Dr. Elav brought up a couple of images and readings, and put away his smoke pipe. Trench decided to let loose with the 'no-smoking on his ship' rule until significant updates are made.

"There's an anomaly of some sort, in the clone's cranial cavity. I'm not too sure what it is, but it definitely does not look like it belongs to his biology," Elav answered in utmost-formality.

"A tumour perhaps?" Trench suggested, thinking back to the incident with the 'sick' clone from Ringo Vinda.

Dr. Elav shook his head. "No." He signalled for his assistants to give Kal another dose of tranq. "If it was, then I would've discovered it already. This is something that's pretending to be a part of the clone's system, but it really isn't. Can't tell if it's a genetic modifier put in by Kaminoans or something he got while out in the battlefield. Either way, it's a foreign substance that doesn't seem too harmful—otherwise he would've been showing symptoms long ago—but I have no method of safely extrapolating—"

"—I do not speak 'science', doctor," Trench interrupted harshly.

"What you think I speak 'military strategy?'" Dr. Elav threw back. "This is a simple as it gets, take it leave it."

Not wanting to start up another argument that could push progress back even further, Trench decided to go for a compromise. "I understand…" Trench began slowly, "that there is something in the clone's head…that doesn't seem to be a tumour, nor a parasite, nor any harmful of the sort…and apparently, you don't have a way to look deeper into this…? Am I right to presume?" Trench's voice increasingly got darker as he asked.

Looking over the readings one more time, Dr. Elav nodded in response. "Yes. There is no way to look deeper into this anomaly, yet."

"Well, you better find a way, doctor. And soon. But other than that. Great work today, I'm satisfied with this."

After finishing that sentence, Trench turned around and left the room, his entourage of droids followed him. Dr. Elav commanded the shut-down of the experiment and ordered his assistants to start cleaning up. He went up to the unconscious Kal strapped on the table and injected him with an alertness fluid. Kal immediately woke up, gasping for air.

"Easy there, easy there," Dr. Elav said, while unstrapping him and helping him upright. He waited until Kal could breathe normally again before speaking. "You've done well, captain. Trench is pleased."

Kal coughed from a side-effect of the injection. He shielded his eyes from the bright lights above. "Not as pleased as he'll be to see me dead. How many days do I have left, doctor? A week? Less than that? You're a genius, you'll find out what caused that clone from Ringo Vinda to go mad in no time. Which means less time for me."

Dr. Elav sucked in a breath. He wasn't sure what to say. So he decided to let his sympathies take control of him. "The Republic's sending out a rescue. From what I've heard, it's your own division. They're coming for you, Kal."

Kal was silent. For the first time since being held prisoner here, he felt a twinge of hope. Maybe he'll get to live by the end of all this as well. But he knew that there was no way Trench would allow his brothers and his general to come for him so easily. Perhaps it was time he did something about his own situation too.

~ O O O ~

The legion consisting of only the arrested clones from Coruscant arrived on the moon early morning, just before dawn. The landscape was dense, forested, with lush vegetation and mountainous terrains, much like the planet it circles around. The clones got off at a slow and steady pace, each making sure they weren't forgetting anything—more accurately, making sure their 'generous' chauffeurs didn't take any equipment from them.

"Ah, what good can I get from stealing from your arsenal?" Hondo nonchalantly said in response to Cleaver and Dogma's accusation. They stood on the ship's ramp, the rest of their comrades were about done with unpacking everything. "I intend to return home alive. To enjoy life as a rich man at long last!"

"Well isn't that delightful," Dogma remarked sarcastically. But he did see truth in Hondo's words, as much truth as there could be. "Fine. We'll choose to believe you. C'mon, sir."

He and Cleaver turned around to head down the ramp and rejoin the rest of their comrades. Steele was the last to leave the ship. He had to make sure everything and everyone were off-board…including Aliyah, unfortunately.

"Not looking forward to this day, are you, commander?" Hondo asked when Steele bypassed him.

Steele shook his head. "How are you supposed to look forward to your death day?"

"How do you know you're going to die?" Hondo asked back, causing Steele to be a little surprised. The pirate leader lazily shrugged his shoulders and said, "Maybe because I'm a criminal myself that I find it hard not to empathize, even a little bit, with you. I'm not allowed to ask what you guys did—not about to risk 23 million credits of spice—but, I'm not not allowed to say this." Hondo gave the clone commander a genuine look. "Good luck to you. In getting back your missing friend."

In these deep pits of despair where any ray of light seemed hopeful, Steele appreciated the wish for success. "Thank you."

Steele soon got off the ramp and joined up with the rest of his men, they watched as the pirate's ship that took them here gradually took off and disappeared into the atmosphere, never returning again. They were here, all stranded and deep in enemy territory. But they weren't going to lie down and die. Steele made his way up to Aliyah.

"Ready to go, general?" He asked.

Aliyah didn't answer immediately. She was focusing her mind, her body. "They're here, I can feel them…" Everyone who heard her in proximity was silent. Their brothers were already here. Only fate could tell whether or not they'll meet again. Aliyah responded to Steele's question. "Alright. Let's move out!"

The clones headed into the darkness of the terrain, following their planned-route to the rendezvous point as the sun slowly rose.

~ O O O ~

Wolffe was keeping Ahsoka at his place during this time of uncertainty. Since with Plo locked up, there's no way he was going to be deployed anytime soon, which means he could look out for this former Jedi Padawan as long as need be. He didn't mind. It was nice having someone keeping him company, especially someone who knew Plo as well as he did.

They were both still waiting on Lux's update to getting his Raxus allies to help out the 304th and Plo from their situation. It was a terrifying but enthralling wait. And every second that passed without an update was a second towards the legion's doom.

"How do you know if Senator Bonteri is going to help?" Wolffe asked Ahsoka, who was sitting at the kitchen bar.

"I don't," Ahsoka answered sadly. "But I know there are people in the Separatists who are moralistic. If they know what's being done to the 304th captain, they won't turn a blind eye to it. I know they won't."

"Let's hope they won't," Wolffe sighed.

"Lux's mother was the one who initiated the peace treaty back then," Ahsoka revealed to further her argument. "Her friends and allies share her ideals, they'll help Aliyah and the others out. This may be war, and we may be on opposing sides, but there can be room for compromise."

Hearing that did manage to give Wolffe some hope that things will turn out good for them. He nodded, "You may be right, kid."

"Not a kid, anymore," Ahsoka answered, lightly chuckling.

That was when Wolffe's holopad starting going off. Ahsoka immediately bolted off her seat and rushed to answer the beeping communication device on top of the living room table. Wolffe was surprised why she didn't just use the Force to call it to her. Perhaps she got too eager in the heat of the moment.

Ahsoka answered the call to reveal a hologram of Lux Bonteri. "Hello, Ahsoka. Thanks for answering quickly."

"No problem. So…? Were you able to get your—"

"—I've reached out to a few prime colleagues of my mother's back on Raxus. They were skeptical at first to help out members of the Republic but after hearing what Trench is likely doing with the imprisoned clone, they've agreed to lend a hand," Lux answered. "Enemies or not, experimenting on POWs aren't tolerated by them or by me."

"Thank you!" Ahsoka truly meant those words. "Thank you so much."

"No need to thank," Lux insisted. "They were already on the verge of leaving the Separatists so this was just the final push."

"How are they going about to help out?" Ahsoka asked.

"A few of them are already on the moon, with their personal guards and forces. They're searching for members of the wanted legion, and their Jedi Knight. They'll help with bringing them all together before locating where Trench is likely keeping their captured captain," Lux explained. He had a serious expression on his face. "I'm headed there as well. I'm not going to take a role on the sideline while my mother's old friends risk themselves for doing what's right. I'll be arriving on the moon in the next minute or less."

Ahsoka was surprised but concerned upon hearing that. She barely nodded. "I…I see. Well, be careful."

"I will. And," Lux momentarily paused. "Please keep in contact with me. IfI do encounter Aliyah Korentayer or any of her men, I will inform you as soon as possible. Perhaps if she knows that I'm with you, that would erase any understandable stigma between them and us."

"Alright. I look forward to your call."

Lux smiled before ending the transmission.

~ O O O ~

"We're lost," one clone trooper from the battalion that was sent third from the Kamino headquarters said. He looked at the portable holomap, turning it in all angles, as if it would make it more sense. "I'm sorry to say this, but we're lost."

All the other troopers in the battalion panicked, but they did their best to keep their minds calm. This was the last thing they wanted. To be lost in the middle of Separatist land. They stopped walking and organized themselves. A few of them stood guard on the perimeter of their group while the others joined the map-holding trooper and tried to determine their location.

"We landed here, less than a klik south of where we were heading towards, which is this giant rock land point here," one trooper said.

"Yeah. And we should've passed it already. But we didn't," the original map-holding clone answered. "Which means we've either went in the wrong direction or we already passed it and we somehow missed it. Which means we're all the way up here." He pointed to less dense section on the map. "Too dangerously close to a small refuel town. We need to head in a different direction, but first, we need to figure out where exactly we are!"

"Can we really have missed it though?" Another clone inquired. "A giant kriffing rock? I mean c'mon—"

Suddenly the soldiers on the outer perimeter held up their blasters in defence formation. The clones behind them did the same, ready to attack. Everyone became on alert. There was a rustling coming from the forest.

The tension was high and fear was spiking, but the battalion without a leading officer held themselves together. They braced for whatever enemy was about to come out of the bush. But when that happened, they were surprised to not see hard metal clankers staring back at them. They lowered their blasters ever so slightly.

~ O O O ~

Elsewhere on the moon, Aliyah and her group of soldiers kept trekking their route towards their rendezvous point. They were making slow but careful progress. Despite having a map of the entire moon, they were still unsure of their surroundings. It took time to get used to new territory—time they did not have.

Limping behind close to the centre of the group, Compass was forcing himself to forget the pain in his leg. But no matter how hard he tried, it was still obvious to Egad and Dogma, who walked right behind him, that he was struggling.

If this was a normal mission, he shouldn't even be here… Dogma thought. He gave Egad his blaster before going up to Compass and throwing the latter's arm around his neck to support him.

"I can walk just fine," Compass insisted.

"No, you can't," Dogma said. He kept Compass's arm around himself while helping him walk forward.

"He's right," Egad said before Compass could say another word out of his mouth. "Save your strength for when you run, you're gonna need it."

Compass looked down in upset. Egad walked closer to his best friend from the day he joined this legion. "The only we can all make it out of this, is if we do things logically, not hot-headedly. Not like…"

Egad trailed off. He was about to say 'when we decided to investigate Fives's death,' but he knew it was a bad idea. And it wasn't entirely true. He was glad they managed to uncover the horrible truth behind Fives and Tup's demise, but he hated how it all turned out for the rest of them now. He was sure the commander felt the same. He went back to his sentence.

"Yeah, anyways. What I'm saying is don't exert yourself. You never know when you're thrust into a battle."

As if the universe heard what Egad just said, the entire group stopped abruptly mid-path. At the fore-front, Aliyah was holding up a hand to signal impending danger. Another crackle came from the woods. Immediately, she and everyone at the fore-front drew out their weapons, causing a mass chain reaction down the group. They all got ready for defensive maneuvers and possible escaping.

The sounds from the forest died down. But Aliyah could tell the person or rather people, were still here. Just when she was about to call out for who's there, a male voice spoke out from the trees.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot! Please, we're not here for a fight."

Aliyah was not yet willing to lower her guard. "We'll be the judge of that. Come on out. And hands where we can see them, you and all your buddies."

There was some inaudible muffles resembling an argument and then silence. Then finally, the owner of the voice stepped out of the bush, along with his allies. He was a young man of another Aliyah's age, perhaps a few years below. He was dressed rather formally compared to the rest of them, almost like a dignitary of some sort. His allies were mostly armed and armoured, likely guards or his own personal soldiers. He held his hands to the level of his eyes and looked at Aliyah.

"Are you Jedi Knight, Aliyah Korentayer?" He asked.

Aliyah raised a brow. "Who's asking?"

"My name is Lux Bonteri, I am the Senator of Onderon and a former member of the Confederacy of Independent Systems."

"An ex-Separatist?" Steele questioned aloud.

"Yes." Lux took a menial step forward. Aliyah didn't react defensively so he assumed she trusted him to a degree. "Are you familiar with Jedi Padawan, I mean, former Jedi Padawan, Ahsoka Tano?"

"Ahsoka…?" Aliyah lowered her lightsaber just a bit.

"She was the one who told me of you and your legion's troubles. What you've been accused of doing and why you're here right now," Lux took his time in explaining things are clearly as possible. He knew that just because Ahsoka trusted him, that did not mean her fellow Jedi would do the same. "She asked me to give you a hand. To help you get your captain back from Admiral Trench."

So Ahsoka was the one who asked this former Separatist to help out? Aliyah wanted to believe that, but she'd rather hear that from Ahsoka herself. She gestured for Steele and the rest of them to stand down.

"Do you have any concrete proof to convince me that she sent you?" Aliyah asked.

Lux knew it was going to come to this. He nodded and slowly lowered one arm to take out his personal holopad. "You can ask her yourself." He hoped Ahsoka would keep her word of answering quickly.

The transmission went through fast and just as promised, Ahsoka answered in the blink of an eye. She brightened upon seeing a very old friend of hers. A friend she thought she would never see again, even in hologram.

"Aliyah! It's been a long time…I've missed you." Ahsoka smiled at her camera. "I wish that we could've met again under better circumstances but I'm glad we're meeting now. Look, I did send Lux to help you. He is a good friend of mine and he will help you find your missing captain. He's helped me in the past too. Please, trust him. Trust me."

There were many things Aliyah did not know but wished she did. She wished she knew what exactly happened with Ahsoka and the Jedi during the issue with the Temple bombing. She wished she knew what Ahsoka was thinking when she decided to leave the Order for good. But one thing she knew is that Ahsoka represented the future of the Jedi, and she still believed in that, even when the former is no longer a 'Jedi' herself. Aliyah trusted her old friend.

"Alright, I trust you."

Ahsoka was relieved. Now things were finally looking up for all of them. She prepared to go off the call when Aliyah said one more thing to her.

"Ahsoka!" Aliyah shouted. "Let's meet again. After the war's over."

"…That's a date," Ahsoka nodded in acceptance. She ended the call.

Lux put his holopad away and looked at Aliyah expectantly. Aliyah deactivated her lightsaber. "Do you know where Kal or Trench is, Senator Bonteri?"

"Not yet, and 'Lux' is just fine." The young Senator of Onderon relaxed his arms. "But we do know where your rendezvous point is. One of my colleagues and his group located some of your men and they told him where you're all meeting up at. We can take you there."

Behind Aliyah, the clones weren't sure if they heard right. Just hours ago, they were thinking they were going to die stranded, alone, on some rock in the Tegemony Sector. Now, they have a voluntary guide who was once familiar with this place himself. Their fates were beginning to turn.

Aliyah looked to Steele, who seemed just as astounded as she was. She accepted Lux's offer. "Lead the way."

~ O O O ~

Trench was starting to get a little afraid of what may happen if the rescue forces do indeed breach his ship, which Dr. Elav insists is his lab. Count Dooku told him to stay put here and only leave if it was absolutely necessary. But what was the definition of absolutely necessary?

If he took off too early, would the Count kill him for insubordination? If he took too late and succeeded in escaping, would the Count kill him for failing to discover the cause of the Ringo Vinda incident? Why would Dooku insist on putting himself at such risk, he just didn't understand.

The legion, what was there number again, 304th? It didn't matter to Trench, they were on this moon and they were in the middle of regrouping before working together to find him. It was only a matter of time. But what Trench didn't know was that they had the help of some unexpected allies to speed up the process.

Thanks to Lux and several of his allies, nearly all the battalions transported here were reunited at the rendezvous point, the Coruscant group included.

The clones at the rendezvous point were all ecstatic upon seeing their brothers, their officers, and their Jedi leader again. It was all cheers and quick celebration before news struck them.

"We still have one more battalion missing," Steele announced after doing a group count. Everyone was quiet. "If I'm not wrong, it's the first battalion that was sent here. Strange, I thought they'd be the first to reach here as well."

"We can go out to look for them, commander," Lux offered. "We know the terrain better than you, we won't take long."

Agreeing with Lux, Steele called up two squadrons of clones to accompany the Senator and his forces. "So you won't waste time trying to convince those boys you're with us," Steele explained.

"That's fine, you can all learn the landscape as we go. Come on!" Lux and his search party went out, leaving the rest of the 304th here with the remainder of his allies. Giving them the chance to get to know each other some more.

"So. What exactly have you committed, against the Republic?" A tall humanoid male asked. He was dressed rather formally as well, similar to Lux, and the rest of the Separatist Senators here, who were teetering on the edge of leaving their alliance.

"They think we handed our own captain over to Trench," one of the clones answered him.

"No. It's more than that," Steele said, slowly walking over. He removed his helmet to breathe the outside air. From the corner of his vision, he could see the investigative trio looking at him eagerly. They wanted the secret out as much as he did. But now wasn't the time yet.

"What do you mean, sir?" A few more clones asked, invoking the interest of the nearby Separatist allies.

Steele shook his head. "I'll tell you once the final battalion's been found and regrouped with the rest of us. It's something you all need to know."

~ O O O ~

Kal paid close attention to the way the doctors and med-droids worked around him. Mainly during the process of locking him up in the hibernation chamber after every experiment and for every night. Tranq, sleep, lock. Tranq, sleep, lock. Always in that order. Bc the tranq always knocked him out cold.

But not tonight. Tonight, he managed to substitute the usual tranq injection with the alertness injection Dr. Elav gave him. And he did so by making some quick smart maneuvers in the chair he was strapped to, to switch up the two syringes. He did this while the med-droids were being recharged and the doctors were on their once-a-day-hourly break. Dr. Elav gave Kal more privacy since their long conversation and Kal took full advantage of that when executing this reckless plan.

The break was over. One of Dr. Elav's assistants came in and picked up the tranq—that was really the alertness fluid—and injected Kal with it. Now that Kal had experienced the side-effects of that drug once, he knew how to hold it in better this time. He pretended to dose off to sleep and waited until the doctor unstrapped him from the chair to move him to the hibernation pod. That's when he struck up and attacked him.

Kal held the doctor in a choke hold until he passed out, then he put his unconscious body away in a lab locker.

Alright, time to make his escape—

"Dr. Kree, you forget your—"

The door to the room opened, revealing another one of Dr. Elav's assistants. He looked at Kal, freed and alert to 101%, with eyes wide. "WE HAVE AN EMERG—"

Kal immediately tackled that doctor down too, before bolting towards the other exit out of the room. Alarms started ringing.

~ O O O ~

"Do you hear that?" The elected leader of the missing first battalion asked the rest of his comrades.

"Sounds like an alarm," Coal answered after taking a listen too.

"Wonder where it's coming from," another member of the first battalion, Mercury, said. He and a few other clones looked ahead in the direction of the sound. It wasn't long until they shouted for everyone else to come towards them.

Coal and the rest of the battalion ran up to where their comrades were shouting for them. Once there, they could see why. The sound of the faraway alarm was coming from a barely visible oddly shaped building out in the middle of some open space. Compared to the rest of the landscape, this area was devoid of grass and trees, but was mainly hard dusty rock. Coal was shocked they managed to come across this place before coming across their rendezvous point.

"Do you think that's where Trench is keeping the captain?" Mercury asked.

"We should memorize this landmark! So when we find the rendezvous point, we can tell the others about place!" Coal suggested.

"But what if the captain really is held in there?" Mercury challenged. "By the time we return with everyone else, it might be too late!"

"Let's take a closer look," the elected leader suggested. "We can get a better understanding the location before returning to the objective. Here, Coal, you hold onto the holopad. If you insist on staying back here, you'll need to keep our best piece of communications equipment steady."

Agreeing with the leader, the clones carefully made their way out towards the open space, with the exception of Coal, who was still insistent on not going out there. "Guys! Ugh." He followed his brothers out of the trees. "They never listen…"

Coal took one step past the line that marked the end of the forest and the start of the rocks.

Beep, beep, beep.

"What the?" Coal looked at the holopad in shock and confusion. How was he getting a transmission out here? He thought they were all cut off until they meet at the rendezvous point and exchange wave signals.

"Who's this?" Coal wondered aloud before answering the call.

Next time on The Clone's Hero, Kal is undergoing his attempt to escape while the rest of his brothers are working with their new allies to determine a course of rescue, meanwhile, the search for the missing first battalion has ended, with questionable success…

Review responses~

Agent N: Welcome back, my friend. That final preview from the previous chapter isn't exactly from this chapter but is what'll happen in one of the subsequent chapters. ;)

A/N. Not much to say other than this: I feel like my writing might've taken a hit lately. Can't tell if it's from the stress of work or from the frustration of quarantine by this point. But I do apologize if my recent chapters seem to be a little downhill in quality. I'm doing my best to make them as top-notch as I can! And as always, reviewing is always a great factor to improve my writing capabilities. As well as favouriting and following!

I look forward to see you all next time! :)

- MiraLake