Chapter 7: Joint Strike
As they walked through the city, Jane could notice the mixed reactions of the Angara. Half of them seemed curious about the newcomers, the other half looked at them with fear and visible hate.
"Follow me." the Governor instructed. "Don't try to explore the city or talk with anybody."
"Got it." Jane simply replied.
"Of course." reassured Thrawn. "Are we at least allowed to make questions?"
"If I can answer them, yes." the woman said as she kept walking. By now, the soldiers had created a corridor, temporarily halting the influx of civilians who were looking at the aliens that just arrived.
"You said you are the Governor. Is this Evfra your military leader?" the Chiss asked.
"He is the leader of the Resistance. They fight the Kett and they protect us."
The nonchalance she just named those aliens surprised Jane. Thrawn seemed only partially surprised as he likely took this possibility into account before.
"So the Kett are your enemies, as well." she said.
Shie kept walking while she quickly turned her gaze toward the aliens. "They are. So I can conclude that your presence here regards them?"
"It is." Thrawn replied. "The Kett have recently attacked imperial citizens. We intend to neutralize their threatening."
The governor hummed in thought. "Evfra will want to hear this."
They passed a bridge overlooking a waterfall that Jane found quite beautiful. Even the Chiss seemed to appreciate the beauty, then posed another question.
"Is this planet a sanctuary?"
"Yes. Aya is well hidden. The Angara live and fight on other worlds. Here we rotate the population to give everybody some rest from the war. Even I will leave the planet when my turn comes."
By that time, they arrived in front of the Headquarters. Shie stopped in front of the door and told them to enter while she had to wait outside, but first they ran again into the soldier, Jaal.
"Our experience with the Kett had brought us to naturally distrust any alien." he said in a tone that was quite neutral.
"Is...that supposed to be an apology?" Jane asked.
"An explanation." the Angara replied. "Follow me."
The officers complied. The door opened and they entered into the headquarters. Which weren't that big: just a big room, more of an office, with consoles on every wall and a desk at the opposite end of the structure, where it also lied the only window present. And behind that desk, angrily shouting orders in his language, stood a light-blue Angara, the face covered in scars and wearing a formal set of clothes.
"Evfra." Jaal started speaking in Minnasat. "These are the aliens who arrived on the ship. A Human and a Chiss."
The leader of the Angara dropped what he was doing to take a good look at the two aliens, with a face that clearly said 'I don't like you'. Understanding that he probably had very good reason to distrust any alien species, the two waited patiently until Evfra finally spoke up.
"Your uniforms are very different. Why is that?"
"It's quite a long story. But we'll try to make it as quick as possible." Jane said.
So she and the Grand Admiral spent the next few minutes talking about the ongoing war between the Galactic Empire and the Coalition, which included the New Republic and the Imperial Federation; and how they had temporarily signed an unofficial truce to deal with the new enemy coming from this side of the galaxy.
"Strange. I thought there was a Galactic Republic, beyond the nebula, not an Empire." Evfra commented at the end in a bit of confusion.
Shepard rose an eyebrow. "Wait, how long have you been at war with the Kett?"
"If I recall correctly," Jaal intervened. "that would be around 30 standard years."
Thrawn hummed softly and brought his index to his chin, pondering on that last bit of information.
"Interesting. That reinforces the hypothesis that the Kett might be working for the Grysks."
"What are you talking about?" Evfra asked irritated.
"Another long story, which is irrelevant at the time. What matters now, is that the Kett have kidnapped imperial citizens and that we need a base of operations in this sector. If you're not willing to share this planet with us, we would be grateful if you could point us a world where we can settle our forces for the time being."
"So you can occupy our worlds in stead of the Kett?" Evfra replied angrily.
"My apologies if I gave you the wrong impression." the Chiss calmly explained. "We only came to this sector to make sure the Kett won't represent a menace for us, anymore. It would be to your advantage as well, hence my request to share your knowledge about this sector."
Evfra grunted and started pacing slowly in front of the window. Jaal instead looked at them for a while, then eventually turned toward his commander.
"Evfra. I think we should listen. What these aliens say...it's incredible. The Moshae would want us to be brave and seize the opportunity."
"You talk too much, Jaal." the leader replied a bit annoyed.
"Let me be of assistance. I will be your eyes and ears with the aliens. I know you can spare me here."
The angara seemed to hesitate. He looked at his underling first, then at the officers. In the end, he stepped to one of the consoles next to him and touched a button, bringing up the hologram of a desert planet.
"This is Eos." he said. "Before the war its orbit was a trading hub, since it's the first barely habitable planet that can be found if anybody comes from the Great Veil. If you want my trust, then chase the Kett out of there, so we can finally freely move our resources from Aya to our fronts."
Satisfied that the Resistance chief was willing to give them a chance, the two officers reassured that they were going to do everything in their power to retake the surface and were allowed to leave.
Once they stepped out, their new Angara crewman finally presented himself.
"I am Jaal Ama Darav. I will be your guide through Angara space."
"Glad to have you with us, Jaal." Jane supported.
While Jaal had some last business to settle before leaving, Jane and Thrawn started the walk back toward the Normandy.
"They sure are an interesting people." Thrawn commented on the way back.
"And a resilient one." Shepard added. "Holding on for so long against the Kett."
"Indeed. But now I was referring more to their biology."
Jane turned her gaze toward him. "Their biology?"
"You maybe know that eyes of a Chiss can see on a different spectrum than most of other species."
"Yes, and…?"
"The Angara are covered by electrostatic energy. I couldn't see the body heat as clearly as I usually can, but I believe they use that energy, along with their body language, to communicate their true emotions, in spite of their apparently neutral tone."
"In the Milky Way, we have a few species who don't communicate too much verbally. If we manage to make allies out of the Angara, we will just learn how to speak with them clearly."
"Agreed. For now, though, we should focus on the battle ahead of us."
March 6.
The news that the Federation may sooner or later pull out from the galaxy was still giving Ezra worries. After the meeting, he had rushed back to Lothal and called a meeting at the Academy with all the other Knights and Masters available to discuss the situation. And indeed, the general opinion was that, if the Federation pulled out, with the current situation, the New Republic would not be able to wage open war against the Empire. The allied nations were simply not ready yet. Even though the Empire had suffered heavy casualties last year, especially regarding the Star Destroyers, they still had all the material advantages. More manpower, more ships, more everything.
If the Federation could not sustain the war effort with ships and boots on the ground, there was a chance that the UACT would go back to be just the Rebel Alliance, waging a guerrilla war against the Empire. On the other hand, the Empire would need years to rebuild the necessary forces to occupy the entirety of the Outer Rim again. An Outer Rim that had finally known freedom and wasn't about to just give it away.
Now, though, there was no time to linger on the future, for the present presented a new challenge that required Ezra's full attention.
Just outside the Nimat system, aboard the carrier Emancipation, the Jedi General was supervising the first phase of the operation.
"Red-5, are you ready?"
"Me and R2 are all set." the Padawan replied eagerly.
Ezra checked on the status of the Ghost and the Silver Bullet. They were both waiting in the hangar along with Red Squadron ready to escort them.
The ICO had pinpointed a new hive of pirates coming from hutt space that had taken shelter in an old spaceport on the surface of Nimat V, the only planet of the system that could sustain life. But they also had a few advanced starfighters with them, some Starvipers models of mandalorian design and now used by the Zann Consortium.
The New Republic wanted to know if the Consortium was now encroaching on its territory, so Mon Mothma had asked the Jedi Order for help and Ezra and his apprentices joined the naval squadron sent to deal with the pirates.
In order to preserve the element of surprise, Ezra had come up with a dangerous but possibly vital plan: send Luke alone on the surface. R2 had been equipped with a special scrambler that would hide the X-Wing from the radar installations, provided he didn't get too close. He would strike when that side of the planet was at late night, then Luke would have to enter the atmosphere far enough not to be spotted, then fly at very low altitude among the small archipelago where the base was hidden on the bigger island.
Once he was close enough, he would strike the air base with torpedoes and heavy lasers, possibly destroying the Starvipers first, if he had the chance.
After that, the Emancipation and her escort would finally enter the system and allow the strike team to land and clean up the base.
And such a strike team was made up not just of the regular Republic troopers and a Legionnaire gently given by the Federation, but also a small team of Lothal Mandalorians.
Just recently, Tristan had convinced his compatriots to set up an alliance with the Jedi, joining hands as the peacekeepers of the galaxy against major violent groups that disrupted order at home. Tristan was waiting on the Bullet with four of his warriors, while another group of four came from ClanEldar and was led by Asha Eldar, daughter of the current clan leader.
This was going to be the first battle where Jedi Order and Mandalorians were officially going to fight side-by-side, and it had better to go smoothly, if a stable alliance was to be ensured.
Strengthening his resolve, Ezra gave the order. "You have green light. May the Force be with you."
It didn't take long for Luke's X-Wing to lift and get out of the hangar, heading toward the planet. In order not to be picked up by long-range sensors, he had to travel at sublight speed, which took him around 40 minutes before reaching the atmosphere. Ezra followed carefully from the holo-table. Then, after seeing his Padawan entering the planet safely, he decided it was time for him to prepare as well. He headed for the hangar, leaving the strategic command to Admiral Vanas, and reached the Ghost, cause he was going to drop directly on the spaceport. Meanwhile, Kyle and Jaden would be on the Bullet with the Mandalorians, who were instead tasked with storming another facility that, Ezra believed, could be the main base of the pirates.
"You sure the kid will have no problems?" Zeb asked while the two of them, plus Sabine and the other soldiers, waited in the cargo bay.
"He's arguably one of the best pilots of the New Republic. I trust him." Ezra calmly replied.
Indeed, a few minutes later, on schedule, Jinx detected multiple explosions on the surface of Nimat, right into the spaceport. The pirates had been completely taken by surprise and most of the flying vehicles on the platforms and the runways had been destroyed. Luke was wreaking havoc.
Instantly, the alarm blared on the carrier, signalling that the fleet was preparing for the jump over the orbit of the planet. Red Squadron and the Millennium Falcon were warming up the engines just like the two freighters. Then the signal arrived and the ships swarmed out of the hangar, heading straight toward the surface.
When they reached the necessary height, Ezra put a finger on his helmet and called the Bullet.
"Krayt squad, split up and head for your objective." he ordered.
"Acknowledged. See you on the other side, Bridger." Tristan replied on the comlink.
The Bullet veered on the right, followed by Red 6 and 7 for air cover.
"Red-Leader, fan out and take out every enemy starcraft left around."
"We got your back, General. Thought it seems Luke is sparing us the trouble." Biggs said.
Indeed, there was a lot of fire columns coming from the spaceport. They were quite thin, so it seemed like Luke managed to avoid destroying fuel or ammo depots, instead hitting the starcrafts with surgical precision.
"60 seconds to drop." Hera reported on the intercom.
"Once we get down, spread out immediately, I don't want to see your asses blown out by a single detonator!" the sergeant of the Republic told his five troopers, who were all fresh from training.
"Sir, yes sir!" they replied.
The Legionnaire instead simply clicked his machine gun and prepared to drop right after the Specters, but before the troopers, with the intention of shielding them.
Ezra materialized his M8 Avenger and took the lead. He could hear the engines slowing down and the Ghost stabilizing as they approached ground. Then the ramp opened, showing him the burning wrecks on the runway. Hera had landed on the edge of it, where it was flat but also open terrain. Among the lights cast by the flames, he could see the pirates scrambling around, unsure of what to do. Then he ran outside, followed by Sabine and Zeb. They charged forward while the Coalition troopers were still descending, allowing Hera to turn around and join the air support.
The pirates opened fire on the intruders, especially on Ezra, whose armor was clearly visible because of the colors and the shining visor of the helmet, and it was exactly what he wanted: as long as their attention was focused on him, Zeb and Sabine would have an easier time dodging bullets.
As he fired back, Ezra could notice who he was up against: a mixed group of Rodians, Trandoshans and Weequays. And he really hoped that Hondo wasn't somehow involved.
Overall, the assault was swift and decisive: the pirates, caught completely off-guard, despite a slight superiority in number, could do little against the ability and the training of the Coalition team. Many fell, and when Sabine shot the bigger Trandoshan between the eyes, the few survivors quickly dropped their weapons and put their hands in the air.
"Zeb, you and the others secure them." Ezra eventually ordered.
As the fires died out for the lack of things to burn, the Jedi and his wife instead turned to the bodies lying around.
"Let's see if we can find who these guys are." Ezra said.
"I got this." Sabine said and knelt next to one of them, lighting up her omni-tool for a scan.
Ezra waited for a few seconds, then he received a transmission.
"Ezra, it's Kyle."
"Go ahead."
"We secured the compound. You were right: this is their headquarters in the region. This place is a mine of data, these guys had a pretty deep web of contacts all around the Hutt Space and the Trailing Sectors."
"I see. Have Chopper make a copy of the most important things he finds. The Republic will send a recovery team."
"Aye, aye. How's it going at the spaceport?"
"We are mopping up what is left. No casualties on our side."
"None for us, too. See you on the carrier."
The transmission was closed and Ezra could focus again on identifying the bodies. Just that moment, Sabine had found something in the database.
"Some of these guys worked for the Hutts, but they were all small fries. I doubt we can get much more from their corpses."
"Ok. Let's make sure we're leaving none of them behind and then head back to Junkfort Station."
March 7.
"Lord-Protector, there is a rebel carrier coming out of hyperspace. She is transmitting the common signal."
"Thank you, Maurice." Iulius replied. "Keep the weapons inactive."
"My Lord, I know that we're talking about your own kin. But can we really trust them?" Yagler asked skeptically.
"If we have to pull this thing together, Agent, then he's the only one I trust among the rebels." Iulius simply replied.
"Drop the matter, Yag, you can't possibly convince him." Qathora commented.
The ISB Agent had to concede that logic and relented. Just a few moments later, the Liberator appeared on the sensors, heading toward the Admonitor so they could jump through the Utegetu together.
"They're hailing us, sir." the comm officer reported.
"Put them through."
The officer keyed the sequence in, allowing the hologram of Darvos to appear in front of the Lord-Protector.
"Colonel. I trust my forces didn't give you any annoyance on the way here." Iulius started with a relaxed tone.
"Surprisingly not." Darvos replied with a smirk. "Looks like everybody out there is incapable on unwilling to disobey your orders."
"Discipline makes wonders. You should try that."
"Just keep bragging, Grand Admiral. Anyway, we're ready to make the jump anytime."
"Good. Then we'll lead the way." Iulius said before turning around. "Windrider, set course for Eos. Colmas, take us there at full speed."
"Yes, sir!" the two replied at the same time.
The Admonitor and the Liberator aligned themselves. After making the necessary calculations, the stars started to bend and they entered into hyperspace, starting the navigation to rejoin the recon force.
At first, Iulius was fine just by keeping the ships separated, but by the time they reached the first stopgap and needed to realign the vessels, he decided he just couldn't take it anymore.
"Commander Ree."
"Yes, sir."
"Extend an invitation to Colonel Tanis. I want to speak with him in my office."
"Sir.." she hesitated. "I understand the situation is complicated, but allowing a rebel leader aboard a Star Destroyer other than as a prisoner…"
"Technically, he is also an officer of the Systems Alliance." Iulius calmly countered. "And we are trying to be nice with them, aren't we?"
Ciena clearly was conflicted, but in the end, he was in charge. She tapped the message on her datapad and not too long after that, she said that Darvos had accepted. Iulius instructed Qathora to go greet him while he headed back to the office and waited.
Not long after that, the doorbell rang and he allowed entrance.
From the corridor entered Darvos, wearing his rebel officer uniform. Qathora didn't enter, knowing that it was high time the two got some privacy.
At first, Darvos stood at a distance from the desk. The two looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Somehow, it seemed easier for them to open up when there were people around them.
"Would you...like a seat?" Iulius asked, indicating the chairs.
"Sure." Darvos replied with a trilling tone and rigidly headed for the right chair.
Silence fell. The two brothers didn't even mange to look each other in the eye for a good minute.
"Say…" Darvos eventually started, rubbing his knees nervously. "You mentioned you made a promise to mother on Bettok. You still see her?"
Grateful that there was finally a break in the ice wall, Iulius didn't hesitate to reply. "She is on Naboo, now. She works as my aide."
"Aide? When did you got so close?"
"Father may have never cared about us, but after you ran from home...it turns out that mother cared. A lot."
He could see surprise shaping Darvos' face.
"Shortly after that, they were transferred. Father became Admiral of the Fondor Sector Fleet, mother came to live on Coruscant. Until I graduated, I visited her regularly. She had become a real parent, strange as it seemed to me, as well."
"Oh." Darvos murmured, unsure of what feelings that revelation sparked in him.
"And what about you?" Iulius decided to ask, hoping to resolve a question he had in the last few months. "How's your wife?"
"You don't really expect me to say anything about one of our top figures, right?" Darvos calmly said back.
"Just wondering." Iulius said calmly. "Ezra Bridger and other Jedi have been reported going around the New Republic playing vigilantes. However, Jaral Bridger seems to never leave Lothal."
"What makes you think she's on Lothal, anyway?"
"Please, brother. That planet is your home. And it's also out of imperial reach. If she wants to stay in the rear, that's the perfect place, but why would a strong-willed person like her sit down while the war is still unconclus…"
A revelation dawned on him. Last time Jaral Bridger had been seen was on Korriban, six months before.
"You don't tell me…" he said to his brother, with a controversial look.
Darvos grunted under his breath, but he understood that there was no need denying that.
"She's pregnant." he admitted in defeat.
Iulius felt his jaw falling, his elbow still propped on the desk to support the pointing finger. The news definitely caught him off-guard, but then, what did he have to be shocked for? Darvos and Jaral had been married for three years, it was no surprise they would end up having a child.
"Uh...congratulations, then." he concluded after scratching his head.
"You're taking it quite well." Darvos commented.
"Why shouldn't I?"
"Well, that means I generated another enemy for your precious Empire. So I assumed you wouldn't like it."
"I'm still your brother, Darv. If you find joy, I have no reason to hate that."
"I appreciate that."
Silence fell again. The two were still hesitating to completely open up to each other, so Iulius decided to give some meaning to this reunion by discussing about the upcoming operation, deciding the roles and who should take the lead for the landing operation on Eos.
There was no denying that the imperials had more land forces, combining the contingents of the Chimaera and the Admonitor. The Liberator was carrying a company of mobile infantry of the New Republic, and the marines of the Normandy and the Constantinople would be added to the forces of the Coalition.
"So we take the heavy lifting. Got it." Iulius concluded.
"We have some artillery units, too. If we put them together we can give you more firepower."
"Thanks, I'll inform my officers to coordinate with them when the time comes."
"Nice. So...I think I should go back to my ship." the Colonel concluded, gazing away and standing up.
"Ok. Qathora will accompany you back." Iulius concluded.
As Darvos walked away, he felt his chest almost exploding. There was something else he wanted to say. Should he do that?
"Darvos."
His brother stopped and twisted his upper body to look back.
"I'm glad we had this conversation." he concluded, attempting to make a smile.
Darvos made one as well. "Maybe we should do this again. You know...until we solve the Kett problem."
"Agreed."
With that said, Darvos walked out, leaving Iulius alone with his thoughts.
March 10.
Jane finished putting on her armor over the uniform, just keeping the helmet for last. Then went and grabbed her sniper rifle, a 'Black Widow', then picked a 'Tempest' SMG for short range fight. The tactical cloaking, the best friend of any Infiltrator, worked just fine. The Marines and the ground team were ready, preparing the 'Hammerhead' for when the Normandy would touch down on the surface and release the contingent.
"All right, everyone gather up." she said, grabbing her helmet underarm.
She walked in the middle of the hangar, between the shuttle and Chief's work post. Everyone else complied, making a half-circle around her.
"As you already know, today will be a joint operation with imperial and republican forces, so for once you won't have to shoot to everyone wearing white, but to everyone who has bones over their skin. The Kett have a fortress on the surface that they use a major hub to move their forces through the sector. We are going to capture it for ourselves and to gain the trust of the Angara.
"The Star Destroyers will open up with an orbital bombardment to test their mettle. After that, we will attack on two fronts. The imperials and the republicans will drop their heavy artillery on open terrain and distract the enemy. You guys and the Constantinople's marines will be dropped inside a canyon to attack the enemy base when they will be distracted."
The marines in there were divided into three squads of 12 men each.
"Javik, Garrus and Johnson, you will be in charge of your teams, but when you touch down, Captain Bridger will assume overall command of the operation. Understood?"
"Yes, Commander." said Javik.
"Got it." replied Garrus.
"Follow the big guy. Understood." commented Johnson.
"Me and my team will wait until the Kett lower their guard, then use the shuttle to sneak inside the fortress. We'll head straight for their control tower and see if we can decapitate their command structure. Everything clear?"
"Uh-Ah!" the marines yelled together.
"Good luck, people." Shepard concluded before putting on her helmet and heading for the shuttle, along with her kids, Wilhelm and Master Chief.
To the latter she spoke. "Chief, when we get on the ground, feel free to roam around the base as you prefer."
"Aye aye, ma'am." the Legionnaire replied before walking inside the cargo bay.
Everything was set. EDI and Liara were to act as intermediaries, exploiting the better equipment of the Normandy. Once all was set, the operation started.
The Chimaera and the Admonitor began with the orbital bombardment, sending a stream of green bolts toward the surface. However, it turned out that the Kett had a localized shield, so the bombardment only managed to do some superficial damage before they activated it. Besides, the Tanis wanted to capture it as intact as possible.
Pelicans and Sentinels then came out of the capital ships, escorted by a squad of TIEs and Republic Wings. After finishing the deployment, the Star Destroyers formed around the carrier, expecting possible Kett ships coming in any moment. And indeed, a few frigates and a cruiser. The galactic forces deployed their remaining fighters and bombers, and as it had been showed over Bettok, Kett ships employed obsolete armors that the turbolasers easily crashed.
While the ISD demolished the small Kett fleet, the assault on the ground was ongoing. The Kett apparently didn't even think that somebody could attack them from the sky, so the landing outside the shield had gone pretty much undisturbed. Now stormtroopers of the 212th and Republic forces were advancing.
"I sure wish my people had this much power." the other guest on Jane's team commented, watching the fireworks from the projector of the Kodiak.
"You have it now, Jaal. Your worlds will return free soon enough."
"We will see." the Angara said. Clearly, he still didn't trust the newcomers entirely.
A call came from the omni-tool.
"Shepard, the Kett are amassing their forces against the main assault." the voice of Liara notified.
"All right, then. Mazak, signal the Constantinople and bring us in."
"Yes ma'am."
The two frigates joined up and dived directly into the atmosphere of Eos. The turbulence was evident even with the advanced dampeners of the Normandy, but they lasted only a few seconds.
Once they were inside the atmosphere, Mazak stabilized the ship quickly and let the Kodiak fall off, so it could wait at a distance until the moment to strike came. The frigates headed inside the canyon, managed to park next to each other and opened their ramps. With the celerity that distinguished them, the Alliance marines unloaded troops and vehicles. In just two minutes, they were completely deployed and Jordan gave the order to advance. They encountered only minimal resistance before reaching the secondary gate of the stronghold.
Finally it was time for Shepard's team to also go in, right after the main assault force reached and destroyed the shield generator and allowed the shuttle to land in the vehicle park of the Kett base, which at this point was almost empty, considering the war machines had been sent to fend off the AT-ATs of the Empire.
"Let's move out." Jane ordered, being the first to land. Everyone else naturally followed.
"For the Angara!" Jaal let himself go as he gunned down a sentinel.
"We need to get the high ground before they react." Wilhelm noted as he threw a biotic bullet against a Kett.
"Leave that to me." Chief replied with his neutral tone that still inspired a huge confidence in whoever listened to it.
The Legionnaire seemed to bounce around the battlefield, climbing the gangplanks and shooting enemies with extreme ease.
"There's our chance. Up the stairs!" Shepard ordered.
While Chief went to town, the Shepards held the formation and proceeded toward the main tower. Before reaching that, they had to conquer a platform that could be reached with two different paths. Scott and Sara took the right one, Jane, Wilhelm and Jaal the left one. Cutting through Chosen and Anointed classes, the Shepards seemed unstoppable.
Then the secondary gate was breached, followed briefly by the main one. The allied forces swarmed inside the base and the limited kett garrison, completely unprepared and understaffed to repel such a powerful attack, collapsed. The aliens didn't surrender, but their movements were slow, and they lost any chance of winning when Chief rushed the control tower and killed their commander by his own.
In just an hour, Eos had been secured. There were a few losses, but much less than anticipated.
"Captain Shepard."
Jane, who had reached the center of the base where the various factions were mixing up now, was called up by one of the rebel commanders.
"The base is secure, ma'am. Colonel Tanis requests an update."
"Thanks you, Commander, just give me a moment."
She turned toward the commander of the stormtroopers, who also approached her.
"I must say, your fame was not exaggerated." the soldier with orange stripes said.
But the rebel commander jolted his head and turned his body partially. "What the...that voice…"
The stormtrooper, as well, realized something odd was happening. Even Jane realized that the two had the exact same pitch.
"Cody?"
"Rex?"
The two stood frozen in their place. Jane wasn't sure if this was about another couple of brothers and decided she didn't have the time to listen.
"Good job everyone. If you'll excuse me, I have to contact the Tanis."
"Uh, sure." Rex said. Cody simply nodded.
And while the two clones seemed unable to process the fact that they were facing each other, Jane headed for the Kodiak so she could speak with the two commanding officers of the expedition.