Living in the Ashes - Part II
Wade slipped into the cargo bay of the shuttle to take a moment to himself. He pulled off his bucket and ran a hand over his braids. On top of the stress of finding out about the inhibitor chips and the Chancellor turning the Republic into the Galactic Empire, Commander Appo had dropped this osik on him.
"Wade, I'm promoting you to captain," Appo had said when Wade had entered the comm room he'd been summoned to.
"No offence, sir, but what the hell?"
Appo'd had the audacity to grin at him. "General Ti and a few Jedi are going to Kamino to rescue the cadets. I want you to lead their protection detail."
Wade had just stared at his commanding officer.
"The Jedi will be posing as prisoners of the Empire," Appo elaborated. "I want you to pick twelve vode to accompany you and the Jedi as their 'captors'."
"This is an incredibly stupid idea, sir," Wade had said.
"I was there when the Jedi High Council tried to explain that to General Ti. But General Kenobi backed her up and for some Force-forsaken reason, the Council agreed. And then a couple of other Jedi in the council room volunteered to go with her."
"They're all insane," Wade muttered.
Appo snorted. "You're not wrong."
"When do we leave?"
"As soon as you pick your men and everyone gets kitted out. Prisoner jumpsuits and Force-suppression collars for the Jedi. And they'll be turning their lightsabers over to you."
"Are you karking kidding me!" Wade had shouted. "How will they defend themselves?"
"The collars were General Ti's idea. She wants this operation to look as real as possible. Commander Stone has forged orders for you."
"We're all going to be real dead if anyone on Kamino sees through this. Little Force gods, Appo, why me?"
"Because Jesse went with Commander Tano and Rex to Mandalore. Because you're a veteran of the 501st. Because I trust you, Wade, to keep General Ti and her volunteers alive if things go to all the Sith hells."
Wade had scowled. "Thank you, sir. I hate you, sir."
Appo had smiled and clapped Wade on the shoulder. "Duly noted, captain. Now go pick your men."
Wade was a ball of nerves and trying not to show it. He'd never been on the command track. He'd never wanted a command. He just wanted to blow up clankers. General Ti had been very kind, reassuring Wade and his men that all would be well. She had some Kaminoans in mind to talk to about dechipping the cadets.
Wade couldn't imagine the kaminiise helping. But he didn't know them the way the general probably did.
Something thudded in one of the storage lockers. Wade would have ignored it, except they were about twenty minutes out from Kamino, and if something was going to go wrong, it would be right about now. He walked over to the locker and pulled the door open. Two younglings in Jedi tunics tumbled out; a human boy and a Tolothian girl.
"Kriff," the boy muttered.
All the cuss words in the galaxy didn't even begin to cover what Wade was feeling right at that second. He just closed his eyes and prayed to the Force for strength.
Then he opened his eyes and fixed the younglings with a gimlet-eyed glare.
"On your feet," Wade barked.
The younglings scrambled up from the floor and stood at attention.
"Up to the seating compartment. Quick march!"
The younglings hurried up the ladder and toward the seating section. Wade grabbed his bucket and stalked behind them like a hungry nexu.
"Captain, you okay?" Lieutenant Shock, Wade's new second-in-command, called. "I thought I heard—"
Wade had the pleasure of watching Shock's mouth drop open in shock. Then the rest of the Jedi and his men turned, and their looks of surprise were equally gratifying.
"Holy karking kriff on a cracker," one of the men muttered.
"Language," Shock growled, not taking his eyes off the younglings.
The younglings had stopped in the doorway, no doubt pinned by the seventeen pairs of eyes focused on them.
"Oh, younglings," Healer Xonnir breathed. "What have you done?"
It took a couple of minutes, followed by an ear-piercing hunting trill from Shaak, to get things quieted down.
They couldn't deviate from their course. Shaak knew they probably wouldn't get another chance to catch the Kaminoans unawares like this. And with the Empire so newly announced, there were hopefully some gaps in the chain of command. The whole plan pretty much rested on it.
Shaak sat and gestured the two younglings over to her. They approached slowly, heads hanging.
"What was your plan?" she asked.
"We were thinking—" the boy started.
"You were thinking," the girl interrupted.
The boy rolled his eyes. "I was thinking that Katooni and I could talk to the younger clones. If we look about the same age, maybe they'd be more likely to listen to us and help all of us."
"How were you going to get into Topica City?" Shaak asked.
The two younglings looked at each other, then back at her.
"Couldn't we just go with you?" the boy asked.
Shaak gestured to her orange jumpsuit and the collar around her neck. "You don't look like prisoners."
She wanted to take these younglings in her arms and tell them that everything would be alright. But sometimes, learning had to happen in less than ideal circumstances. She needed the children to learn that their actions had consequences.
"Stun us," Katooni said.
Her companion gave an indignant squawk.
"You could say Petro and I stowed away," Katooni continued. "We had some misguided idea that we could rescue you and the others from the clones. So, the troopers had to stun us, and now we're prisoners too."
"I don't like it," Devra Xonnir, the Zabrak healer, said. "Can't they just hide in the shuttle until the troopers go back to Coruscant?"
"We're not going back, ma'am," Captain Wade said. "Our orders are to stick with the Jedi until you leave Kamino."
Devra looked startled and dismayed at the news.
"The child's plan has merit," Karawn Beltro, the violet-skinned Twi'lek male said.
"So does tossing them into the sea as we approach the city," Kettar Biks, the huge Besalisk Healer-Knight, muttered.
"No one's tossing anyone out of the shuttle, Ket," Sha Koon said. "Unless you're volunteering to go first." The Kel Dor's voice carried amusement.
Shaak held out her hand to the younglings. "Your lightsabers, please."
Katooni handed hers over quickly. Petro complied with a little more reluctance. Shaak handed both lightsabers to Wade.
"The captain will hold onto your 'sabers, with the rest of ours, until such time as we need them," Shaak said.
The younglings nodded, looking unhappy.
"Now, initiates shouldn't be out of the Temple for extended periods of time. And Padawans should have Masters."
The older Jedi caught on first.
Kettar folded all four arms over his chest and huffed.
"Master Ti, you're not seriously rewarding them for stowing away, and putting their lives at risk," Devra protested.
Petro and Katooni's eyes went wide.
"Padawans?" they said in unison.
"This is not a reward," Shaak said sternly, eyeing Devra and then the younglings. "But since they are with us, and we cannot turn back, I feel it would be wise for them to have some structure while on this . . . mission. A master to report to, and to do training with would help the situation from being overwhelming. For all of us."
Healer Devra looked like she wanted to protest more, but she held her tongue.
Shaak would take responsibility for both younglings, if none of the others volunteered. She was a High Council member after all, and all of these people were under her care.
"I will oversee the boy's training," Karawn said.
Petro turned to the Twi'lek and bowed. "Thank you, Master Beltro."
"I will see to Katooni," Sha said, coming forward to rest her clawed hands on the Tolothian girl's shoulders.
Katooni looked up at Sha. "Thank you, master."
One of the clones muttered something in Mando'a. Shaak didn't know the words, but the tone—fond exasperation—was clear. She smiled.
When they landed on Kamino, the new Padawans were tucked against their masters' sides with firm instructions not to say or do anything that would draw attention to themselves.
Shaak Ti walked off the shuttle with her head held high. The other Jedi with her held themselves similarly. They may have been playing prisoners of the Empire, but they weren't broken. Captain Wade led the group off the shuttle.
The Force-suppression collars which had been deactivated for most of the trip, were now live, and the Jedis' hands were bound in front of them. Though a control for the collars would be turned over to the Kaminoans, Captain Wade had an emergency override for the collars secreted in his vambrace. Wade's second, Lieutenant Shock, had a backup emergency shut off, in case anything happened to Wade.
Commander Colt was waiting for them at the bottom of the ramp with at least a platoon of Kaminoan security clones.
Shaak had been incredibly relieved when he'd survived being impaled by Asajj Ventress. He'd received a new lung and spent a tenday in bacta to heal the damage done to his body, and after a month of light duty and physical therapy, he'd recovered without any visible setbacks. But Shaak knew he suffered from nightmares and occasional panic attacks brought on by traumatic stress response.
Shaak looked straight into Colt's visor, but there was no warmth in that blank gaze like his eyes had once held for her. There had been a time when he had rarely worn his helmet around her, and now, faced with that concealing mask Shaak felt something inside her wither. She'd been hopeful that Colt would be one of the clones to throw off the conditioning of the biochip. It seemed that her hope had been in vain.
Captain Wade walked up to Colt and handed the commander a datapad containing orders that Commanders Fox, Thire, and Stone had forged, along with the Emperor's signature.
"Prisoners, sir," Wade said. "The Emperor thought the cadets should get some experience fighting Jedi, under controlled circumstances, since hunting the Jedi will be a main directive for them now."
Shaak watched as Colt skimmed the orders, then motioned to one of his men who stepped forward.
"Captain Pitat will show you and your prisoners to the brig, captain. It looks like you and your men have been assigned here for the foreseeable future."
Wade nodded. "Yes, sir. We've had experience putting down the rebel Jedi at the Temple on Coruscant. The Emperor wanted us to help oversee the cadets' training with the Jedi."
"Very good, Captain Wade. I'll leave you in Pitat's hands for now, and send you a schedule once I work you and your men in."
"Yes, sir," Wade said.
"One more thing, captain," Colt said. "Where are the Jedi's lightsabers?"
Shaak took a calming breath as Shock stepped forward and opened the box he'd been holding, showing the 'sabers to Colt. It had been hard for Shaak to turn over her lightsaber, but she knew it was necessary. At least it would be here on Kamino with her. She just hoped Wade and Shock were able to hang onto the lightsabers. It would be a lot harder to get them back from the Kaminoans.
"Good," Colt said.
Before anyone could react, he drew a pistol and shot Karawn in the leg. The violet-skinned Twi'lek went down with a cry.
Chaos broke out.
Kettar let out a bellow and dove at Colt. Several of Colt's men fired stun blasts at the Besalisk, and he hit the deck hard. Petro crouched protectively next to his new master, fear written plain on his young face. Sha put herself between the clones and Katooni.
Without thinking Shaak flung a hand out toward Shock, intending to call her lightsaber to her hand. Nothing happened. Realizing her mistake Shaak threw herself at the nearest trooper, one of her 501st guards. She said a silent apology as she wrestled the blaster from his hands and shoved him away from her. She stunned two Kaminoan guard troopers before her blaster came to rest, pointed at Colt. His pistol was similarly aimed at her.
"Put the blaster down, general," he said. "Despite the Emperor's orders, we don't need live Jedi to test the cadets against."
Shaak's hands shook and her breath stopped in her throat. The reality of what she'd volunteered for—what she'd dragged four Jedi and two Padawans into, not to mention the 501st clones who'd agreed to be their guards—was finally sinking in. She'd been a fool. She had no allies here.
Shaak dropped the blaster.
Wade and one of the other 501st troopers gripped her arms.
"Take the prisoners to lockup," Colt said. "And take the injured one to medical."
Rayshe'ase looked up in surprise as the door to his cell opened. It was still a few hours until latemeal. His surprise turned to shock, then horror as two guards pushed General Shaak Ti into the cell and closed the door behind her.
"General!" Rayshe'ase gasped, rising to his feet and saluting.
"There's no need for that, trooper," the general said.
She walked to the long bench that filled the back portion of the cell and sat, drawing her knees up to her chest and hooking her arms around her legs. He thought she looked like a cadet who'd just failed an exam.
Something was very wrong.
"General," Rayshe'ase said, sitting on the bench a couple of feet from her. "Why are you in here?"
"Haven't you heard?" she murmured. "The Republic is no more, and the Jedi have been declared traitors to the new Empire."
Rayshe'ase stared at her, trying to comprehend her words.
"The Republic . . . Did we lose the war?"
"Yes, and no."
"I don't understand."
The general unfolded from her tight curl, sitting cross-legged on the bench with her elbows resting on her knees. "The war was rigged, trooper. From what we've been able to piece together, the war was an elaborate trap for the Jedi. And we walked right into it."
The general fell silent. Rayshe'ase's head buzzed with everything General Ti had told him. The Republic was no more. The Jedi were . . . He couldn't even finish that thought. The Jedi were light and hope and the whole reason Rayshe'ase and his brothers existed. The Republic was the reason they fought. If the Republic was gone and the Jedi were considered traitors—little gods, that was unthinkable!—by the new regime, then what purpose did he serve now?
There was a light touch on his arm, and Rayshe'ase turned to General Ti. Her grey eyes were kind.
"I can't feel you in the Force," her fingers brushed the collar around her neck, "but I can see the worry on your face. I didn't mean to cause you distress."
"It's not your fault, general," he said.
"I am not a general anymore, trooper. Please call me Shaak Ti."
You'll always be my general, Rayshe'ase thought.
"My name's Rayshe'ase," he said, feeling a flush creep up his neck. "In Mando'a, it . . . it means 'Fives'."
He winced, anticipating a reprimand for daring to take such a well-known name. Instead, the general just looked infinitely sad.
"I knew him," Rayshe'ase rushed to explain. "Not well, but when he came to Kamino with the sick trooper, Tup, I was one of the guards tasked with tracking him. I was there at the end when you ordered him to be taken to Coruscant. I was impressed with Fives' determination to find out what happened to his brother. The Rancor commanders are always going on about brotherhood, even though the kaminiise don't like it, but that was the first time I'd really seen what brotherhood meant. It left an impression."
The general smiled at him. "I can see that. I think Fives would have been honored that you share his name."
Rayshe'ase let out a breath, relieved that his general wasn't mad at him.
"So, how did you come to be imprisoned, Rayshe'ase?" General Ti asked.
He felt his neck grow hot again. "I . . . uh . . . a tenday ago I saw a trainer picking on a cadet. He was only a fourth cycle cadet at most; still tiny. I confronted the trainer, and there was an . . . altercation."
The general trilled a laugh. "How bad was it?"
Rayshe'ase grinned sheepishly. "I knocked him out. Then four of his buddies ganged up on me."
General Ti looked dismayed. "That's hardly fair."
"It's okay," he said quickly. "Several of my buddies ganged up on them."
The general snickered. "You started a brawl in front of the cadets. How long are you in here for?"
"I'll be released in a couple of days, but then I have a month of sanitation duty."
"Well, I look forward to your company while you're here, Rayshe'ase," General Ti said.
"Likewise," Rayshe'ase said.
His mind was already turning over plans to help General Ti escape. His brothers wouldn't stand for their general to be imprisoned. They had to get her out.
Karawn woke to find himself in a cell. His leg throbbed faintly where he'd been shot, so he figured he hadn't spent any time in a bacta tank. The last thing he remembered was being carried by two guards into the medbay, then a sharp prick at his neck, and then . . . nothing.
"How are you feeling?"
The voice came from down by Karawn feet. He struggled into a sitting position and found himself looking at a clone dressed only in his black bodyglove. Karawn sat up slowly and peeled back the bacta patch on his leg to inspect the wound on his thigh. It had been cleaned and seemed to be healing nicely. He wished for a moment that he could use the Force to speed the healing even more. He didn't like the idea of being vulnerable in this place.
"I am . . . alright, considering the circumstances," Karawn said.
The clone nodded, then felt around under the lip of the bench they were both sitting on. Shortly afterward, he came up with a bit of metal and started tapping on the wall closest to him; a series of taps with longer or shorter pauses between them. Then he sat back, crossed his arms over his chest, and closed his eyes.
Karawn wondered if the Kaminoans intended him to have an 'accident' with this trooper and wind up dead. That would be a terrible start—and end—to this mission. Or perhaps, seeing as the clone was in a cell too, his biochip hadn't been activated, and Karawn wasn't in any danger.
Tapping from the other side of the wall the trooper was resting against distracted Karawn's morbid thoughts.
"General Ti is glad you're awake," the clone said after the tapping stopped.
"You're communicating with Master Ti?" Karawn asked.
The clone shook his head. "My buddy, Rayshe'ase. He's in the cell with the general. The Zabrak lady is in the next cell over from them with Zav." He cracked one eye open and pointed to the wall Karawn was leaning against. "The younglings are in that cell with Shev'la."
"Are the younglings well?" Karawn asked. His first day as a master wasn't going so well. He wondered if the clone would use his tapping code to check on Petro for him.
"What about Kettar and Sha?" Karawn inquired. "The Besalisk and the Kel Dor."
The clone shrugged and closed his eyes again. "They must be on the other side of the cell block."
Karawn relaxed a bit. "Thank you for the information."
The clone just grunted.
"What's your name?"
There was only silence from the clone, and Karawn figured the other man was done talking.
"Ara'novor," the clone said quietly.
"I am Karawn."
The clone nodded.
"Could you let the younglings know I'm alright? One of them is my . . . I'm the guardian of the boy."
Ara'novor shot him a surprised look. "You brought your ad into captivity with you?"
Karawn wasn't sure what ad meant. He hadn't spent enough time with the clones to pick up on their language. "I didn't bring him. He stowed away."
"Brave kid."
"He is," Karawn said with a smile.
He recalled the look of fear and determination on Petro's face as the boy had crouched next to him after he'd been shot. If they all lived through this, Karawn was sure Petro would grow to be a fine Knight.
Ara'novor rose and walked to stand next to Karawn and repeated his tapping on the wall. It didn't take long for a response to come.
"Shev'la says the kids are glad you're alright," the trooper reported.
"Thank you, Ara'novor," Karawn said.
The trooper nodded and returned to his seat, hiding his bit of metal under the lip of the seat again.
Karawn tried to settle more comfortably on the hard bench. There was nothing else in the room, and he wondered if they would be taken to the 'fresher more than once a day. He closed his eyes and tried to meditate, but it was difficult without the Force. He could almost feel it, as if the Force were separated from him by a veil of shimmersilk; barely visible, and so close if only he could find a way through. He fingered the Force-suppression collar around his neck. He knew he wasn't permanently cut off from the Force, but the separation was still disconcerting.
"You're going to rub your neck raw if you keep that up," Ara'novor said.
Karawn met the clone's gaze and dropped his hand from his throat.
"You're right, of course."
He smiled, and the trooper smiled hesitantly back.
In the communications room of the command center in Tipoca City, a comm came in. A clone comms officer took the call. A blue-skinned, male Chagrian appeared on the screen.
"Vice Chairman Amedda, what can I do for you?" the comms officer asked.
"I am calling on behalf of the Emperor, to inform you that his special envoy will be arriving in two days. The Inquisitor, and her commander, will inspect the troops and select a few of your best to join her battalion of purge troopers. She is to be afforded every courtesy."
"Understood, sir. We'll have everything ready when the Inquisitor arrives."
Mas Amedda nodded. "See that you do."
Mando'a:
Kaminii - Kaminoan; plural, kaminiise
Pitat - Rain
Rayshe'ase - Fives
Shev'la - Silent
Ara'novor - Blockade