The ship docked at a station orbiting Naboo. Fives took his crew aboard the landing ship and they all waved goodbye as the doors closed. For now the security detail had to go and check the palace and rooms. They would be meeting up with other details to plan for security with the scheduled events.
Rex and Dagger stayed behind with the General and Commander. They waited in the hangar for the ship to return. Soon enough, the Dutchess walked in with her personal guards. She conversed lightly with Captain Keb, but as she approached she looked at the jedi and soldiers.
"General Skywalker, will you be joining us during the conference? Or do you have other duties?"
"Unfortunately, I will be busy, but I assure you that Captain Rex and Dagger will keep you safe. They are some of the best," he replied.
"Thank you General Skywalker," she replied.
With quick salutes to their General, Rex and Dagger fell into the back of the preexisting group of guards. Their white armor stood out significantly against the blue of the Mandalorians' armor. Dagger's chest was puffed just a little at the praise from their General. If Rex saw it, he chose not to say anything.
Dagger ended up next to one of them at the back, a tall man with blue eyes. Through their helmets it was hard to discern anything other than eye color, which did little to help identify them. There were no markings on their armor to tell them apart. The man nudged her and she stepped out of the way looking at him sharply.
He laughed, "You the one Keb told us about? The one with the Kotep'an blade?"
Dagger's hand drifted down to rest on the hilt of that dagger, "What of it?"
"Nothin'. I'm Tenro. What is your name?"
"Dagger," she replied and gestured to her right, "This is Captain Rex."
Tenro laughed again, "Do you all have weird names? I mean really what kind of a name is Dagger and Rex? What are you a dinosaur?"
Both soldiers reeled back at the comment. Rex was still trying to figure out if he had been insulted or not when Dagger started up, "Excuse me?! What is your problem?! At least we got to pick our names, not like you nat borns that get them assigned at birth like its your number. What does your name even have to do with you?"
The man was openly laughing at her now and it made her blood boil as she continued. Her voice spiked up into a yell, "You didn't even earn it, your name is just your label, not who you are. You don't have any place to be saying our names are weird, at least ours aren't some abstract syllables put together."
Dagger was huffing in anger, "And another thing!"
She went to lunge forward with her fist raised. Rex sprung forward and wrapped an arm around Dagger's waist to hold her back from punching the man, "Whoa whoa, easy now."
Dagger struggled to get free but Rex just held her tightly, "No fighting soldier."
She deflated at the order, "I'm not wrong, Rex. He's got no right to talk to us like that."
Tenro let out another laugh, "Did I hit a nerve little clone?"
"Tenro!" the name was barked out and he looked over, Captain Keb was standing over the man glaring harshly, "What do you think you are doing?"
"I was just asking why the clones had weird names and the little one got offended by it," he said.
Keb looked at Rex, who was still holding Dagger, and then back to Tenro, "Apologize."
Tenro sputtered in indignation, "For what?"
"For being an asshole, they are here to help us and the first thing you do is insult them. Now apologize," Keb was practically growling at the guard now.
Tenro knew better than to fight with his captain and turned to the soldiers, "I'm sorry."
Dagger snarled at him, it was obvious that he didn't mean his apology. Rex just tightened his grip and spoke through the helmet comms, "Calm down, calm down!"
"Rex you can't let them talk about you like that! Those are our names!"
"Yeah and he apologized, so calm down."
"You know he didn't mean it!" She protested.
"It doesn't matter. We aren't here to be liked, we are here to do our mission."
She pouted under her helmet but nodded and Rex slowly released her. He nudged her shoulder lightly. Finally, he spoke outside of the helmet comms, "What did I say about trouble huh?"
Tenro had been sent to the front of the group, farthest away from the soldiers. The guard Captain spoke to them, "I'm sorry about Tenro, he doesn't like outsiders. I'll keep a better eye on him from now on."
Rex nodded and Keb continued, "Anyone else gives you trouble let me know right away. It wouldn't do for us to be fighting when there are bigger things to worry about."
~B~
Dagger was actually going to claw her eyeballs out through her helmet. They had been in this meeting hall for hours. She was so bored and she wanted to do anything other than just stand here and scan the room. The Captains both stood behind the Dutchess' chair at the head of the table.
As the ruler of a neutral world she had been chosen as a moderator. The two guards behind Satine were the closest to her in case anything happened. The rest of the guard, and Dagger, were spread around the room. Their main job was to protect the Duchess, but should anything else go wrong they were to help in all ways that they could.
Rex had given her strict orders to not get into trouble, and she wasn't allowed to talk over the internal comms either. So she just had to stand there and be bored out of her mind.
She hadn't dared to talk to the Mandalorian Guard who had been placed with her. All of them stood in pairs and after her earlier conversation with Tenroh she was hesitant to talk to this new stranger. She didn't think that all Mandalorians were bad, Jango was proof of that, but these guards had a fifty fifty impression so far.
So, Dagger kept her mouth shut. The senators and representatives did enough gabbing for her anyway. She rolled her eyes as they called yet another recess. She had learned that "recess" was just code for stand up and talk more for twenty minutes or until it was time to sit and talk again.
"Just for the record, I think Dagger is a really cool name," the guard next to her spoke quietly. His voice was light, he seemed to be a similar age to Dagger.
She looked over and up at him, he still faced mostly forward, but she could see him looking at her through the open visor of his helmet. She tilted her helmet at him in question.
"Tenroh is an ass, don't listen to what he says. Dagger is an awesome name, Rex too," he commented.
"Thank you," she said, that was oddly nice of him, "And what is your name?"
"More of those random syllables you were shouting about earlier, my name is Miaan," he said with a slight chuckle.
"You know I wasn't yelling at you, right?" she asked, worried that she had offended someone other than Tenroh. She had fully meant to insult him, but no one else.
"Heh, I know. Like I said Tenroh is an ass and it was about time someone stood up to his insults. I'm just sorry he had to take out his temper on you guys," Miaan explained, "Y'all clones don't get enough credit in my opinion. Hard job you guys have."
Dagger cringed slightly at being called a clone. It was true, but it still felt like an insult, like that was all anyone thought that they were. Miaan analyzed her silence, "Did I say something wrong?"
She shook her head, "No, everything you said was right."
He saw Dagger's helmet tilt down as she analyzed the very interesting white floor. Miaan was never known for just letting things go, "Hey, I don't wanna be one of the ones to insult you boys. Was it the clone thing? I'm sorry if I offended you, I've never really talked to one of you before, I don't know the rules."
Dagger looked back up, "We aren't just clones you know? We are people just like you, we are soldiers and individuals. I mean you aren't wrong when you say clones it just- it just feels like that's all people see us as. Another piece of a matching set."
"I'm sorry Dagger, it won't happen again," she saw in his eyes that he meant that apology, unlike Tenroh's earlier. Maybe all the Mandos weren't so bad afterall.
~B~
All of the attending senators ate dinner in their private quarters. Quarters was really an understatement. The room was as big as an apartment, it had multiple bedrooms and separate quarters within it. Satine insisted that the guard all eat with her, it had been a long day afterall.
Dagger's heart fell as everyone gathered in the dining room to eat together. Rex made no move to go towards the plates prepared for him and Dagger. Almost everyone had been seated when he spoke up, "Dagger and I will guard outside. If you need us just comm."
Duchess Satine started to protest but the soldiers in white had already turned to make their way out of the door. They posted up on either side of the entrance to the quarters. Dagger relaxed slightly as the door closed and her and Rex stood alone in the empty hallway.
"Rex you should really eat, I can wait till later," Dagger started.
"And so can I," he replied like it was the easiest thing in the world, she could tell he was smiling behind his helmet, "I can't forget if you've eaten or not if I eat with you. We'll find time later."
"I'm sorry I make everything difficult."
Rex just shrugged, "It's just food Dagger, and if it helps you feel safe I really don't mind."
She nodded, "It really helps that you know now."
"Thank you for trusting me. I know that took a lot to be able to show me your face," he said.
They talked quietly for a while, the faint noise of conversation coming from inside the quarters. The guardsmen and the Duchess all chatted as friends, it made Dagger wish that their vod were there.
"Have you heard from Fives or the others today?" She asked.
Rex nodded, "He checked in a little while ago. They had been planning for the ball for most of the day. There has been no sign of any hostilities so far. Also it would seem that Cricket is taking a page out of your book and not taking his helmet off at all."
Dagger snickered and Rex continued, "He and or Fives should actually be here in a few minutes to give us a more in depth report."
"Any idea why he thought it was a good idea to give Fives a bunch of temporary tattoos?"
"I think it is too bold to assume Cricket thought about it at all before acting. He isn't necessarily known for his great planning skills."
The door between them opened and the soldiers turned to see Captain Keb step through the threshold, "The Duchess has requested that you join her, I'm sending out Miaan and Keeto to take your post."
They nodded and ducked into the room. The guards were finally up and moving around with different tasks. Dagger and Miaan exchanged a nod as they passed each other. Satine was still sitting at the head of the table and two plates of food sat at the seats on either side of her.
"Please sit," she said, gesturing to the chairs.
Rex sat on her left and Dagger on her right, neither made a move towards the food in front of them. Dagger pointedly ignored the grumbling in her stomach. Satine leaned forward and rested her chin on her folded hands, "I heard that one of my guardsmen was giving you a hard time today. I just wanted to apologize to you both. I am very grateful to you all for coming here to help protect me and the others at this conference."
"We are just doing our duty ma'am," Rex responded.
"Dagger, I know that you do not wish to take your helmet off around others. Is there anything I can do to make sure you get time to eat? I can't have one of my guards passing out from not eating."
"I'll be fine ma'am," she started, Rex gave her a pointed glare through his helmet and she continued, "But if we could have a minute or two in a private room we could eat in there."
"Of course. There is a small dining room at the back of the suite, you both can bring your food in there. You have my word that no one will bother you," Satine replied.
"Thank you ma'am," Dagger replied. She and Rex stood in unison, they grabbed their plates and made their way to the back room.
Once inside they took in the single table in the middle of the small room. When the Duchess said it was a small room, she wasn't kidding. Dagger sat at one seat and Rex took the only other seat, which was across from her.
Dagger tried to act natural but her heart still raced as she pulled her helmet off. Rex mirrored her and couldn't help but glance at Dagger's exposed face. Just the same as this morning, she was gorgeous. They both ate quickly, no need to waste time.
"Make any new friends?" Rex teased.
She smiled, "I didn't start any more fights if that's what you are wondering."
They ate in silence after that so they heard when there was a knock to the main door. A familiar voice greeted the Duchess and guardsmen. That must be Cricket coming to check in. They finished up quickly and put their helmets back on.
Cricket was in the middle of a circle of some guards who seemed to be all joking around. One of them laughed heartily at one of his jokes and smacked him on the back. Cricket stumbled forward and somehow his helmet got knocked off. He caught it in his hands and straightened back up with a wide grin on his face.
All of the guards burst into even more laughter as they saw the smudged writing on his forehead. Rex just shook his head, "Put your helmet back on idiot, let's go."
Dagger and Cricket followed their captain out into the hallway and back to where all of the GAR soldiers were meeting. As they got closer to their meeting hall Dagger started to see more and more familiar armor. It was calming to see familiar helmets, vod surrounded them.
The triangle of 501st troopers cut through the crowd to get to the table the rest of their men were standing at, discussing strategies together. They had made it almost all the way to the table when a hand fell on Dagger's shoulder. She paused and turned her head to see who it was.
She spotted the flash of grey armor and turned fully around. Wolffe's grin was infectious and she found herself straightening up in excitement at seeing him again, "Commander Wolffe!"
"Looks like someone's got some new ink," he mentioned as he gestured to her helmet, "How is it goin' kid? Staying out of trouble?"
"Well," she stuttered, Dagger rubbed the back of her neck. How did one even answer that question. It turned out that she didn't have to as Rex chose that moment to make his presence known.
"Not unless you count getting seriously injured staying out of trouble," Rex commented.
Dagger chuckled nervously. Wolffe full on laughed, "Still up and kicking though so it couldn't have been that bad."
"I mean I only flatlined once," Dagger mumbled. Rex groaned at the casual reminder of one of the worst days of his life and Wolffe choked briefly at the new information.
"Now we know you don't die easy. Glad you are ok, Little Loth Wolf," the Commander petted her helmet fondly and gave her head a small jostle.
"Good to see you too Commander," she said in parting as she followed Rex.
The meeting was called to a start and Dagger was surprised to see Commander Cody was here as well. He was in fact the one heading up the meeting. He stood at the head of the holotable, helmet tucked under his arm as the other gestured to images projected over the holotable.
"As you know, tomorrow night there will be a fundraising ball with all of the senators and dignitaries. It will be held here," he pointed to an extensive courtyard in the center of the palace, "If there is going to be any attack during this conference it will most likely take place here when all of the senators are together and busy."
Dagger nodded along as he laid out the specifics, "Snipers will be placed here, here, and here. Boost, Dagger, and Waxer you will need to be in position by nineteen hundred tomorrow night. For all of the leaders of the details, Rex, Wolffe, and Bly, you will be personally escorting your assigned dignitaries. Everyone else will either be posted security or roaming security."
Everyone was taking mental notes and nodded in understanding, "Any questions?"
No one spoke up, "Alright, the details on who is posted and who is roaming will be sent out to your commanders later tonight. You are dismissed."
The meeting broke up into groups of troopers headed for the doors. Rex had a short talk with the members of Torrent before he released them back to their rooms. He saw how Dagger's helmet kept tilting back to Commander Cody who was still hunched over the holotable.
Rex nodded to her, "Go on, I'm sure he'd like to say hi to you too."
Dagger bounced slightly, today was turning into a big social gathering for the soldiers as well as the senators. She hadn't seen this many units together and it was nice to see everyone again.
"Commander Cody," she called with a hand raised in greeting as she approached.
The yellow clad soldier looked up and smiled, "Dagger! I haven't seen you in a while."
He opened his arms to her and she readily stepped into his embrace. He gave her a friendly pat on the back before releasing her, "I would ask how you have been, but last I heard you had gotten yourself arrested on Coruscant."
Dagger let out a low whistle, "Commander that was like four big events ago, you gotta keep up with the gossip better."
He laughed, "Silly me for assuming that being arrested was the most eventful thing that happened to you since I've been away. You and the Torrent boys are going to make Rex go grey. Really? Four? What could I have possibly missed?"
"Uhhhhh, how much time do you have?" she asked.
"Abbreviated version kid," Cody replied, "As much as I would love to stay and talk all night I have a lot more things I need to do before I could even consider doing that."
Dagger counted on her fingers, "One, got blasted on the last mission and flatlined, I'm ok now. Two, Echo was a jerk, but we got that figured. Three, I took off my helmet in front of Rex and showed him my back. Four, I now have a last name."
Cody nodded, fingers running under his jaw, absorbing the information, "Thank you for not being dead then. Also, I'm proud of you for showing Rex your face, that takes guts kid. Though I'm not sure what the back thing means but good on that one too. And last name?"
"Oh! You were already gone for that one too, sorry Commander. Rex had gone to Kamino to arrest the Kaminoan that trained me because she hurt me and scarred my back during training. For the last name, I got a new dagger and it is a Mandalorian heritage blade of a family who was all killed and now I have their last name to carry on their legacy."
Cody reeled back slightly at the information dump, what did he even comment on first? He blinked, "I feel like when I said I wanted the abbreviated version I did not think that many significant things would have happened. Are you ok?"
Dagger nodded enthusiastically, completely missing what Cody was asking about and Rex just pinched the bridge of his nose behind her, "Wanna see my new dagger?"
Cody nodded and she pulled it out of her thigh sheath and held the handle out to him for him to take. He grasped it gently, "Whoa, this is beautiful."
"Thank you."
Rex cleared his throat and gave Dagger a hard look, they really needed to be getting back. Cody saw the look and handed the dagger back, "It's more fitting than your old one anyway. Stay safe this time Dagger, I'll see you tomorrow, now get out of here before Rex drags you out."
"Goodnight Commander."
"Goodnight Dagger, goodnight Rex."
"Yeah yeah, all of those pleasantries. See you soon Codes."
~B~
Once Rex and Dagger arrived back at the Duchess' suite the guards and soldiers made their way into the room adjoined to the master bedroom. The additional room was just as big, if not bigger, and had many more beds. It reminded Dagger of the barracks on the Resolute. The barracks, however, would not have been filled with strangers as this room was. She would have been surrounded by her vod, not just with Rex.
As everyone filed into the room the Mandalorians selected bunks when they came across an empty one. By the time the Republic soldiers, who were at the back of the group, entered the only open beds were along the back wall. A pair of beds just across from each other.
Dagger flopped down on her stomach on the bed against the wall and Rex sat on the other one. The Captain took off his helmet and ran his hand over his face to scrub some sensation back into the skin after wearing the helmet for so long.
He grinned at Dagger as she laid face down in full armor. She let out a groan of satisfaction, "They sure got some comfy beds here Captain."
He snorted and began to take off his armor. He agreed with her and looked around to see the Mandalorian guards also shedding off their armor. He didn't see Dagger make any motion to take off her armor as well. She either didn't notice or just didn't care to copy.
Rex was distracted with his armor and watching Dagger when Captain Keb approached the pair, "You boys ok here?"
"Yes sir," Rex replied.
Keb nodded and seemed to do a double take at seeing Dagger laying face down, "Even that one?"
Dagger gave him a thumbs up, not bothering with a response or even to look at the man. Rex chuckled, "Nothing out of the ordinary, sir."
Keb nodded and walked back to his bunk in the center of the room he shook his head at their antics. He had learned after this morning to not comment on the oddities of GAR soldiers. The little one, Dagger, had almost chewed Tenroh's head off for saying that their names were weird. Tenroh was an asshole, sure, but Dagger seemed to be on a hair pin trigger of a temper on certain topics.
If he wanted to sleep in his armor he could do so, but Keb still thought it was a bit strange. He shrugged his shoulders and sat on the edge of his bunk. He scrolled through his data pad, checking off everything that had been completed today. He was halfway through looking over the itinerary for tomorrow when he felt his bed shift as someone sat next to him.
He looked up to see that Miaan had sat down. He clicked off the datapad and asked, "What's up?"
"Hey Captain, I was wondering if we could work with the GAR boys more. They are super cool, especially the little one. Can we do more jobs with them?"
Keb laughed, "Made a friend did you? It's not up to me who we work with and honestly I think it was just luck of the draw that these two got assigned to work personally with us."
Miaan's shoulders slumped, "But they are staying for the rest of the conference at least right?"
"Yes Miaan, we still have a few days to work with the GAR boys. How do you feel like today went? Anything unusual happen," Keb asked. He had already gotten a briefing from everyone, but he knew that Miaan liked to talk about the day in a more unofficial capacity.
"I actually learned something today Captain, did you know that they don't like to be called clones?"
"But they are clones?"
"Yeah, but that isn't all they are. Like the name thing, Dagger was telling me about it earlier. It's part of their identity to be someone, to have a chosen name. They are soldiers and even though they are clones they would rather be seen as individuals."
Keb nodded, "That makes sense."
"So Dagger is the one who has the Kotep'an blade?" Miaan asked.
"Yeah," Keb answered. Miaan looked at him, waiting for more explanation, "I was new to the guard when the last owner of it left for his final mission. We didn't know it was his last mission at the time, it was never supposed to be. Captain Kotep'an was one of the best men I have ever met. That was a long time ago now, probably about eighteen years ago by now," Keb recalled.
Miaan nodded along to his words, "And he didn't have any family?"
"He did," Keb said sadly, "His wife died in childbirth, that was before I knew him. He had a kid too, I'm not really sure what happened to that little one. If Dagger has the blade then you can probably fill in the blanks just as well as I can."
"Damn that sucks. A whole bloodline just wiped out just like that? No one left?"
Captain Keb shook his head, "No bloodline left, but maybe a legacy. Dagger seems like a good soldier, he will do his best to carry the honor of the Kotep'ans with him."
Miaan nodded, "I don't mean to discredit him, but shouldn't the blade be held by a Mandalorian?"
"Dagger is a Mandalorian, they all are. Those soldiers are mandokarla. They didn't ask to fight in their war, but they do so with honor. I think Dagger can do it, he will make the Kotep'ans proud."
"No argument from me boss."