Scattered
The Coruscant Guard commanders had sequestered themselves in a briefing room in the Jedi Temple and had their heads together ever since they'd all had their chips removed. Appo might have been less concerned about that if it weren't for the looks of mild panic mingled with sheer determination on each of their faces. When he'd asked them what they were doing, they'd refused to answer, just demanding caf and that someone be sent to retrieve some datapads from their offices at CG headquarters.
Appo had sent a Guard vod to retrieve the 'pads, and another vod to get the commanders as much caf as they needed. Then he'd left Fox, Stone, and Thire alone.
When Appo received Senator Organa's comm, he'd entered the briefing room the commanders had commandeered and started playing the message without preamble. The three men had frozen at the sound of the Chancellor's voice. As the Chancellor announced his academy for Force-sensitive younglings, the horror on Fox's face solidified into deadly resolve.
"Osik, he's moving fast," Stone muttered.
"Who else got this comm?" Fox asked.
"Not sure," Appo said. "I'd assume Senator Organa would send it to the Jedi high counselors at least."
"We need to get the Jedi younglings off Coruscant," Thire said.
Appo nodded. "The senator agrees with you."
"But where do we send them?" Stone asked. "The Corellian Temple?"
"What about Naboo or Alderaan?" Thire offered.
"Send them to the mand'alor," Fox said at the same time Appo said, "What about the mand'alor?"
Appo nodded and went to the holotable in the center of the room. He opened an encrypted channel before typing Sergeant Fox's comm frequency in. He waited for the call to connect.
"The Jedi might not like us making decisions for their ade without their input," Stone said.
"You just volunteered to let them know," Fox said to Stone.
The other Guard commander turned away, grumbling, and activated his the comm in his vambrace.
The holotable lit up as the call connected and a blue holoimage of the mand'alor and Sergeant Fox appeared.
"Good to see you, Commander Appo," the mand'alor said. "How are things on Coruscant?"
"We're getting our vode dechipped as fast as we can," Appo said. "I have Commanders Fox and Thire here with me from the Coruscant Guard." Fox and Thire moved into where the holoprojector would pick them up as well. "Commander Stone is comming the Jedi, so they should arrive shortly. Sir, we have a situation here. It's bad."
He gave the mand'alor a quick rundown of the Chancellor's—now Emperor's—message to the senate.
"Osik," the Mandalorian leader growled. "I should have known he'd still make a grab for power."
"Sir, we need to get the Jedi younglings off Coruscant," Appo said. "We want to send them to you."
The mand'alor rubbed a hand over his chin. "Just a moment." He yelled something as he walked out of range of Sergeant's Fox's holoprojector.
"Sergeant Fox, what's going on where you are?" Appo asked. "How's the general?"
"I . . . I hardly know where to begin, sir," the 501st sergeant said.
"Just give me as much information as quickly as you can."
"The Tribunal crashed, Maul's doing. He escaped. The vode on board attacked Commanders Tano and Rex, who both survived; the attack and the crash. One of the mand'alor's men called his aliit to help, and they've rescued about fifty vode, but . . ." He shook his head. "It's not looking good for the rest."
"Karking hells," Commander Fox muttered.
"And the general?" Appo pressed.
"He seems okay, mostly. More angry than usual. We picked up his riduur before we left Coruscant. They have ade on the way."
Thire whistled softly through is teeth. "The Council's going to love that."
The mand'alor stepped back into the holoimage with a Nautolan female.
Behind Appo and the Guard commanders, the door to the room opened admitting Stone, Generals Kenobi and Yoda, and an Ardennian female in Jedi robes.
"Looks like we're all here," the mand'alor said.
"Wish to see Knight Skywalker, we do," General Yoda said.
"In a moment, Master," the mand'alor said. "This is Clan Leader Irresset Linnar of clan Linnar. Her people are helping to rescue the personnel of the Tribunal. She's agreed to give me, my warriors, Skywalker and his wife, and the injured clones sanctuary with her clan. I have told her of the threat to the Jedi younglings."
"How many younglings do you have?" the clan leader asked.
The Ardennian stepped forward. "I am Crèchemaster Jenall Dariss. We have one hundred and sixty-seven younglings in the Temple. We would also send their teachers for a total of a little over two hundred people."
Clan Leader Linnar was silent for a moment, and Appo wondered if the younglings and their minders would be too much of a burden on the clan. Then the clan leader nodded.
"We can host your younglings and their teachers for a time. They are welcome to come."
Appo let out a soft sigh of relief, which was echoed by the other commanders.
"That is very kind of you, Clan Leader Linnar," General Kenobi said. "I am Master Obi-Wan Kenobi of the Jedi High Council. What can we do in return for your kindness?"
The Nautolan smiled. "For now, let's just say you own me one. We can hash out the details later, when things are less chaotic."
"This is unacceptable," Crèchemaster Dariss said. "You could use the younglings to hold the Jedi Order hostage—"
General Kenobi put a hand on the woman's shoulder, and she fell silent.
"Like your Emperor is trying to do?" Clan Leader Linnar said. She folded her arms over her chest and glared.
"Please excuse Crèchemaster Dariss, clan leader," General Kenobi said. "She's understandably upset and meant no insult."
The Nautolan snorted in disbelief. The mand'alor put a hand on her shoulder and murmured quietly in her ear. Clan Leader Linnar nodded sharply once. "I swear on my honor, as the mand'alor and the Ka'ra are my witnesses, that I will not retain the younglings from you at such time as your Order is safe enough to care for them. Haat, ijaa, haa'it."
"Haat, ijaa, haa'it," the mand'alor echoed.
Appo wondered if the Jedi realized how subjective those terms were. Children were a central part of Mandalorian life, and to release them into an unsafe environment would go against everything the Mandalorians stood for. From the frown on General Kenobi's face, he understood.
"Agree to your terms, we do," General Yoda said. "For now. But revisit them soon, we must."
Clan Leader Linnar and the mand'alor both nodded.
"The younglings will be on their way within the hour," General Kenobi said. "Where shall we send them?"
Appo typed on his datapad, detailing a couple of dechipped squads to help the Jedi coordinate the younglings.
"I'll transmit the coordinates to you," Clan Leader Linnar said. "They'll be going straight to my clan's lands on Vorpa'ya. I'll comm ahead so my people know they're coming."
General Kenobi turned to General Yoda. "We should send out a message on the Jedi beacon warning the Jedi to stay away from the Temple as well. None of us will be safe here much longer."
General Yoda nodded. "Agree, I do." He turned to the mand'alor. "Speak with Knight Skywalker now, we would like to, if you please, mand'alor Djarin, A wife, you say, he has, hmm?"
Obi-Wan was in the Temple storerooms helping pack up supplies to send with the younglings and their crèchemasters. Master Yoda didn't want the displaced Jedi to be too much of a burden on their Mandalorian hosts. He turned from pulling a pile of blankets off a shelf and found Shaak Ti standing next to his hovercart.
"Master Ti," Obi-Wan greeted warmly.
"I'm going back to Kamino," the Togruta master said without preamble.
"Not a chance," Obi-Wan countered, dropping the blankets on the cart. "Master Yoda would never allow it. It's too dangerous."
Shaak tipped her head in acknowledgement. "It will be dangerous. However, the cadets and undecanted babies will need someone to guide them. If I surrender my lightsaber and present myself as a prisoner, I should be alright. Especially if I have a clone guard bringing me in. I need you to help me convince Master Yoda."
"Shaak, you don't know that," Obi-Wan said. "We can't risk it. There as so few of us left and our numbers keep dropping with every report that comes in."
"I can't leave those younglings to the mercies of the Empire," Shaak said. "We need to rescue all the remaining clones from Kamino. I can better formulate a plan if I'm onworld. Not all the Kaminoans are heartless scientists bent on churning out a product. I've worked with them for almost three years, so I would know."
Obi-Wan took her hands. "Shaak."
"I will go without the Council's approval, if I must," she said, squeezing his hands in return.
"Why is this so important to you?"
"We have failed the clones, Obi-Wan. In so many ways. It may be too little and too late, but I want to save as many of those little ones as I can. They're just children They deserve to have a choice in their future."
Obi-Wan agreed with her, had felt the same way almost from the first day he'd met Cody and the men of the 212th, but hadn't seen a way to give them the choices they deserved. But there was a little nudge from the Force. He eyed Shaak Ti's serene face, looking for some hint of what he sensed.
"You're not telling me everything, Shaak."
Shaak Ti withdrew her hands from his and folded them into the wide sleeves of her robe. For a moment, she wouldn't meet his eyes.
"You would not have left your men, had you been given the choice, would you?" she finally asked.
Obi-Wan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "No, I suppose not. I'd have wanted to see them freed from the chips."
"I feel the same way. I cannot leave my men on Kamino to face this trial alone."
There was still something she wasn't saying, but Obi-Wan made the decision not to press. Whatever it was, Shaak clearly didn't want to discuss it. And the Force seemed to support her decision to go to Kamino.
"Master Yoda said earlier that he felt the clones would be a help to us in the coming days," Obi-Wan said. "I will speak to the Council with you in favor of you returning to Kamino."
Shaak Ti gave him a relieved smile, and stepped forward to hug him.
"Thank you, Obi-Wan," she murmured. "Thank you."
Petro silently climbed back over the stack he'd been rummaging through, hidden at the top in the shadows, when Master Kenobi and Master Ti had begun talking.
"Katooni," he hissed, clambering down the stack to where his hovercart waited. "Katooni!"
The Tholothian youngling stuck her head out of the adjacent shelving where she'd been gathering clothing.
"What?" she hissed back.
Petro motioned her close. She Force-lifted a stack of tunics and leggings down to settled on the cart, then climbed down to join her friend. She and Petro had been nearly inseparable since their trip to Illum almost a year ago.
"I just overheard Master Ti talking to Master Kenobi. She wants to go to Kamino to free the clones."
Katooni folded her arms over her chest and cocked and eyebrow. "You were eavesdropping?"
"Not on purpose!" Petro said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was just at the top of the stack when they started talking, and I didn't want them to think I was eavesdropping . . . and I kind of ended up doing it anyway."
Katooni rolled her eyes and turned back to the shelves. "Come on. We've got a lot more supplies to gather."
Petro stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "We should volunteer to go with Master Ti."
"Petro, we're not even Padawans yet." The fleshy pods dangling from Katooni's scaled scalp curled around her shoulders in agitation. "There's no way anyone would let us go."
"But we're perfect for it!" Petro was almost vibrating with excitement. "Think about it. Some of the clones will be kids, like us. Who better to talk to them than other kids?"
Katooni threw up her hands in exasperation. "You just don't want to go to Vorpa'ya with the rest of the younglings."
"Do you? Come on, Katooni! We fought pirates and Sepratists! We rescued Anakin Skywalker's Padawan, for Force's sake! It's going to be so boring on Vorpa'ya."
"Master Yoda says Jedi don't seek adventure or excitement," Katooni reminded him.
"Tooni," Petro pleaded. "Let's at least ask. It can't hurt to ask, right? The worst that can happen is we'll end up on Vorpa'ya anyway."
Katooni closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. "Fine. We can ask. But I have a bad feeling about this."
Petro grabbed Katooni in a hug and swung her around. "You're the best!"
He didn't really think the Council would allow Katooni and him to go to Kamino—they weren't quite thirteen after all—but Petro had a plan for that.
Padmé sat next to Ahsoka in the shade of the shuttle. Rex had carried the young Togruta woman over and settled her before collapsing next to her and falling asleep, his body curled toward hers. Padmé thought he looked terribly young, asleep and vulnerable. Maybe it was just her mothering instincts coming to the fore, but she wanted to wrap the clone captain up in a blanket and see that he slept for the next twelve hours or so. Looking at little Grogu sprawled asleep against Ahsoka's side, Padmé decided it was just motherly instincts. She wanted to wrap them all up and tuck them away somewhere safe and sing Nabooian lullabies to them. She placed a hand protectively over her belly. She'd get to sing to her own babies soon enough.
Her contractions were coming closer together now and she tried not to worry that she might end up giving birth on this little moon so far away from any medical facility. Every time she caught herself worrying, she'd take a deep breath and relax her shoulders. Her tension and anxiety wouldn't help her babies.
She watched as Din, Aedo, and Silk, along with Irresset and the Linnar clanspeople cared for the injured clones. A few of the Mandalorians had left already, their ships carrying the most seriously wounded, headed for medical facilities on their home planet. Padmé had offered her help, but Anakin had forbidden her from doing so much as providing water to the men. She'd been about to give him a piece of her mind when Din had stepped in and pointed out that the excessive movement on her part could make her labor go faster. And she was only dressed in her nightgown.
Anakin and Fox were staying out of sight in the shuttle under Paz's watchful eye.
The mand'alor walked toward her with a canteen in his hands. The leather bits of his armor creaked as he sat next to her.
"Are you thirsty?" he asked, holding out the canteen.
Padmé nodded and accepted the canteen, but she only took a small sip.
"How's the nausea?" Din asked.
"It comes and goes."
"And the contractions?"
She shot him a sideways glance.
Din gave a one shouldered shrug. "I've been to my fair share of births. The verde, the warriors, who followed me in the early days . . . there were women. War doesn't stop, not even for new life."
Padmé took another sip. "Do you have any children?"
He looked at Grogu, nestled against Ahsoka. "Not biologically."
"What can you tell me about my children?" Padmé asked, stroking a hand over her stomach. "Anything?"
Din smiled at her. He has a kind face, she thought.
"I could tell you a great many things, mostly from when they're older though. But I think you'd rather experience them for yourself. However, I will say that Leia has your eyes and her father's temperament. Luke had Anakin's eyes, but is slightly more levelheaded. But only slightly."
Padmé pressed a hand to her mouth, her eyes filling with tears.
"Are you going to be sick?" Din asked, laying a hand on her back and rubbing in soothing circles.
She shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks. "I never told anyone what I was going to name my babies. But you know." More tears spilled free. "What you said about Anakin . . . what you accused him of . . . How do I move past this?"
Din scrubbed a hand through his dark curls, looking unhappy. "What I accused him of will not happen now. I was trying to shock him out of his downward spiral, and I handled the situation poorly. N'eparavu takisit. I'm sorry. If Cara were here, she'd pummel me into the ground for that." Din smiled fondly, then sighed. "I took Anakin to stop all those terrible things from happening. He caused so much pain in my time, but now, here, he has the chance at a different path. I want that for him. For you and your children." His eyes drifted to Grogu and Ahsoka again. "For them."
"Thank you," Padmé said, wiping her tears away.
Pain rippled through her abdomen and Padmé bent over with a hoarse cry, clutching her belly.
"Padmé!" Anakin shouted from inside the shuttle.
There was a brief scuffle, a weighty thud, and then Anakin leapt from the shuttle and knelt at her side, shouldering Din out of his way. She gripped Anakin's arm and let out another cry as the pain intensified. On Ahsoka's far side, Rex rolled to one knee, pistols in his hands, scanning for danger. Padmé might have laughed at all the protective males surrounding her, if she hadn't hurt so bad.
Paz appeared in the shuttle's doorway with Fox in a headlock.
"'Alor?" the big Mando inquired.
"Stand down!" Din ordered.
Paz released the trooper, and Rex lowered his weapons, though his eyes still looked bleary with exhaustion. He was probably running on instinct at the moment.
"I'm fine, Ani," Padmé said, even as her fingers dug into his arm. "It's just a contraction."
Clan Leader Linnar walked over with a yellow-skinned Togruta in tow.
"I think it's time to send you to Vorpa'ya," the clan leader said. "This is Yelis. She delivers the babies for our clan."
The Togruta nodded.
"We just pulled a couple severely wounded verde from the wreckage," the clan leader continued. "We're sending them to our medical facilities, so we'll send you lot along too."
When the contraction finally started to ease, Din and Fox helped Padmé to her feet. She felt shaky and a little lightheaded after that last contraction. She was very glad to be heading to a medical facility. She was more than ready to meet her babies.
Rex lifted the still sleeping Ahsoka into his arms, though he still looked half asleep himself. He didn't seem inclined to let anyone else near the young woman at the moment. Paz kept a hand around Anakin's arm and the whole group followed Yelis to the waiting freighter.
Mando'a:
Osik - shit
Mand'alor - sole ruler of the Mandalore sector
Ade - children
Riduur - spouse
Ka'ra - stars; ancient Mandalorian myth - ruling council of fallen kings
Haat, ijaa, haa'it - Truth, honor, vision. (words used to seal a pact)
Verd - warrior/soldier; plural - verde
N'eparavu takisit - Sorry (literally: I eat my insult)
Alor - leader, chief