You're a secret Slice. Your job is to gather as much intelligence as possible for the Republic. Only the Jedi rival you. Keep it that way—your heading to the 501st. To them, you're an elite trained clone spy. You have two permanent missions. 1. Ensure victory for the Republic. 2. Keep your secret. -Mina Lu before Slice left Kamino
"Generals." Slice greeted the two Jedi standing in front of her. Yup, the secret was that he was a she.
Inexplicably, both Jedi tensed and looked at each other.
"Slice, may we have a word with you in private." It was not a question.
"Yes, Sir."
Slice held her breath. Her armour was different from her brothers, as well as it being completely black and loaded with weapons; it made sure no technology could get any scans through it. Do as you were taught. Just clear your mind so they can't read it. Sure that wasn't what they had in mind when they trained her but, Hey, it works.
General Skywalker spoke up, "How many of them are there?"
"Sir?"
"Female clones," His voice was harder this time.
Slice didn't say anything. She just focus on clearing her mind.
"Remove your helmet."
"I'm sorry, Sir. I'm not allowed to remove my helmet, to avoid attachment. Orders from high command." Slice said, glad for the length the Kaminoins went to keep her secret. It was just to keep the galaxy from finding out they made a mistake.
Skywalker cocked his head and looked at her. But he didn't look at her; he looked at her. Like he was x-raying her. Nasty. I do not like that.
The younger Jedi spoke up, "How long will you be with us, Slice?"
"I'm just staying with the 501st for a week until your dropping me off on a mission, Sir."
Skywalker spoke up for the last time,
"Enjoy your stay then."
Slice saluted and walked out of the room. She was staying in the same room as her brothers, but she wasn't going to let her guard down. She was specially modified to be able to live off only a few hours sleep, Then she could train, but always in her armour. That was a given. She had been wearing armour as long as she could remember. As she walked past her brothers, she sighed, but her helmet blocked it out.
Her helmet handily muffled her voice completely. The reason for her sigh, though, was the glances she got from brothers. She had been on the field for a few months, and already, she had a list. Some people glanced at her suspiciously, others impressed, and others yet hatefully. She was different and people believed she thought herself better than them. They didn't know that it wasn't the case. Quite the opposite; She was an abomination. Mina was sure to make that clear, telling her often that she would have been killed if they hadn't found her talent for collecting info.
So as she walked past the mess, she sighed again as the room froze, as if dreading she came in. But she didn't stop, walking briskly to Captain Rex's office. When she came upon the door, she knocked.
"Come in." Came the sharp reply.
Slice came in, her body language not betraying any of the nerves she felt.
"Ah," Rex looked up from his datapad, "Slice, I believe it was."
"Yes, Sir."
"I assume you are fine sleeping with your brothers?"
That was obviously a rhetorical question so It didn't matter Slice's answer. So she studied his body language and tone. He wasn't quite suspicious, but he didn't trust her. And that hurt more than he knew. She had no one and the only people she had, hated her.
"Or course Sir."
Rex nodded, " Good."
Slice took that as her cue to leave, so she did. Her heart was heavy, though. Even the commanding officer didn't trust her...
She walked back to the barracks, heart aching with every shifty glance she got from her brothers.
When she arrived, she walked in with confidence she didn't have. All heads turned as she could see the many different glances. She came to the empty bunk in the very back and started unpacking. Slice laughed, but the sound came out as a burst of static. The only things she removed was a small bag of tools. She would stay in her armour and helmet per orders.
When she had finished carefully polishing her tools, she looked up. Almost everyone had filtered out to eat. Slice sighed, eating was a luxury for her. Sure she could live without food for a week or so, but food made things easier. With all these brothers around, there was no way she was getting something to eat in the week.
Slice leaned back in her bunk; she had heard things about the 501st from the 212th. They often partnered together and she knew that the 501st had the lowest casualties in the army. That was good... But she really didn't need to know anything about them. They weren't part of her assignment. But, she sighed again, they were her brothers...
...
Rex sat in his office, trying to get work done. He wasn't; his mind had drifted to Slice. Slice was a strange trooper. Extremely good at everything he did and perfect at gathering intelligence. But he had no batchmates, and was part of no specific legion. He just took rides to get to where he needed to go. But as he was still his brother, Rex had decided to make him feel as welcome as possible. Rumour was that he still was a shiny.
A proficient shiny, sure, but a shiny nonetheless. But Rex needed to know a little more about Slice to make him feel welcome. So Rex placed a call to the 212th. After a few seconds, Commander Cody picked up. He had dark circles under his eyes, and he looked like he hadn't slept in a while.
"Cody." Rex said, a tad sharply, "You can't do anything if you don't rest."
Cody gave him a look and waved his hand.
"I hope you didn't call JUST to give me a lecture."
Rex shook his head, still slightly glaring at Cody.
"Actually, I was going to ask about Slice."
That made Cody sit up.
"What's he done wrong?"
Rex frowned, was Slice, a trouble maker? Technically, he couldn't get told off for it either.
"He hasn't done anything wrong; I just wanted to know what you think of him."
"Oh," Cody leaned back in his seat again, relaxing, "Well Slice is complicated."
Finally, this is what Rex wanted to know.
"How so?"
Cody appeared to be choosing his words carefully.
"Well, for one, he can't remove his helmet."
Rex blinked, "What?"
"He can't remove his helmet," Cody repeated," He's been ordered not to-"
"By whom?!" Rex interjected. It was wrong for a brother to have to hide.
"- By high command," Cody finished," To avoid any attachment."
Rex considered this, "So he has no one."
Cody nodded sadly, "He can't make any friends as he can't remove his helmet. I think he's standoffish because of that."
Oh...Rex looked at his desk, thoughtfully. And without prompting, none of the 501st was going to help him.
"Oh..."
"There's more," Cody said.
Rex glanced back up at him.
"Since he doesn't take it off, he can't very well eat in the mess. When he was with us, he didn't eat for a week. Because he couldn't, that's what's going to happen with you."
Rex nodded, taking in this information. He wouldn't let Slice starve.
"And one more thing you shouldn't worry about. Slice doesn't need as many hours of sleep as normal. So if you see him training for 10hrs straight, it's fine."
"Is that all?"
Cody considered.
"Don't let anyone touch his helmet or knives. Waxer took his knives and touched his helmet and Slice went berserk. No kidding, warn them to NOT do that unless they want a trip to the medbay."
Rex nodded. He had a new mission. To make sure Slice felt at home, as it would probably be his first home.
"Thank you, Cody, that helps a lot. Now go get some rest!"
Rex said that part firmly, a friendly order. Not like Cody was obliged to follow, so a friendly request. Cody sighed fondly in return.
"Fine, I'll get some rest. Take care, Rex."
"I will."
Rex hung up, left alone to think about Slice. It seemed he was dealt an unfair lot in life. Every clone had the same, but Slice had it in the extreme. He wasn't allowed to care or be cared for. Rex leaned back in his chair. This was... Surprisingly similar to Daggers situation... Maybe- but no. Rex smiled slightly at the thought of Dagger. She was the only female clone, she said so herself. Anyways, He'd make sure that Slice felt comfortable here, even if it was only for a week.