ARCA Barracks
1083 days ABG
Ops Room.
"So this is where you spend all your time? Fucking waste if you ask me!"
Aven pulled off his helmet and attached it to his belt.
"I didn't Lieutenant!"
Maze turned to look at his old friend, he suppressed his shock; it had been nearly three years since he had seen him. His previously unblemished face was covered with scars and lines. Grey hairs at his temples. It was a hardened face, transformed by the stresses of war.
"Lieutenant Aven reporting for duty, Sir."
Aven's hand hooked him around the neck, and pulled him in. They slapped each other on the back. Then pulled apart. Although they had grown up together, it was enough.
"Good to see you still alive," said Aven, "If you can call this living." He added, turning to look around the Ops Room.
"It has its moments. Especially recently."
He had been stuck in the Barracks since the alert.
Aven raised an eyebrow, just as his brother did.
"I couldn't believe they stuck you here!"
"It had to be done. Orders are orders." Answered Maze.
"Some are better than others." Aven's answer hinting at a future conversation that was needed.
"Any news on Net'ra?" Maze asked, ignoring his comment for the moment. They could catch up later.
"No! No trace."
"Me neither. I could find nothing. Thought you might be able to pick up some gossip out there."
"Not a bloody dicky bird."
Maze frowned, tapping even harder at his datapad.
"I think we have to accept he's gone." There was an edge to his voice, an underlying anger, that threatened to bubble to the surface.
"Yeah."
"But you? You have a lady friend I hear. Is she still around?"
"Who told you?"
"Net'ra, who else?"
Maze nodded. "She blind sided me."
"That bad, eh?"
"She's different. Not like anyone I've met before."
"Didn't know you'd met many?" Aven smirked. It lasted seconds when he saw the look on his brother's face.
"Is she safe?"
"As much as she can be for the moment." Maze replied.
"Good. I'm happy for you. At least you got something out of this Shab'la mess."
"And you?" Asked Maze.
"Nah! Love 'em and leave 'em. That's my motto."
"A bit like Net'ra?"
"A lot like him. That's why you're the Captain. The responsible one."
Maze shook his head.
"Do I get to meet her?"
"When this business is over."
"I'll hold you to it. So who have I got Cap?" Quickly changing the subject.
"Omega and Yayax. Good squads. They've proved themselves."
"Should hope so by now!"
"We've been protecting the Utilities." Maze highlighted the areas where back up was needed "but communications were patchy. The Seps had jammed Comms but they were using the same jamming device as they did on Praesitlyn and the techs were able to decode it - transmissions are normal now."
"Yeah. Had trouble even getting landing coordinates and the last thing we need are a bunch of civvies out looking for food and water getting in our way." Aven studied the map.
"But it looks like the Holonet News HQ needs some help. They have to be able to keep broadcasting, keeping the citizens of Coruscant and the Republic appraised and any emergency messages issued." Maze zoomed in on the HNN HQ building, showing massed droids heading towards it.
He tapped a message into his com unit and waited. The reply came through quickly.
"They're on their way."
"Consider it done brother. Be seeing you!" Aven tipped two fingers to the side of his helmet and was on his com to the squads before he left the room.
.
Senate District.
1085 days ABG
Grievous landed and was heading straight to the Chancellor's bunker; the extra one thousand ships and thousands of clones that had materialised had not stopped him. Maze was heading there himself, with Zey holding the fort at the Barracks. Everything was ready to be purged, if the Seppies reached them. But that didn't seem to be their priority. That was the Chancellor's Bunker.
Maze hung onto the strap in the LAATi, it was a rough ride, dodging dropping ship debris, vulture droids and damaged buildings. It was unbelievable that there were still ships in the atmosphere.
They looped around, he tightened his grip. It had been a while and he didn't want to appear like a 'shiny'. Fordo's helmet was facing him the whole ride. He stared at the door.
"You up for this 26?"
"Yes." He snapped, he had to be.
"Huh!" The dismissive grunt came back over the com for all the LAATi to hear.
"Spit it out 77. You're not normally so…..reticent. Has retirement with 17 finally got to you?" Maze fired back, remembering how Jare'la he was on Kamino.
"I've been keeping up to spec training the young 'uns. Not lounging on Coruscant with the ladies."
There were a few snorts of agreement from the other Troopers.
Maze was unsure who had been talking, if anyone, unless it was a stab in the dark from 77.
"There's plenty to do here. CIS infiltrators…"
"Hah! Yes you're with the spooks aren't you."
The LAATI lurched again, as a missile exploded next to them."
"Sorry about the turbulence ladies." the pilot's voice boomed out, "Don't get your knickers in a twist!"
"What is with pilots?" Maze and Fordo asked, simultaneously.
Fordo barked out a laugh, then touched his helmet. He was receiving coms.
"We're needed in Sector 4. The Jedi are after Grievous. Lock and load!"
The LAATi dropped low, hovering a few feet from the ground and opened the doors. They poured out, blasting Clankers before their feet hit the dirt.
"Why are we here and not at the Temple or Senate?"
"Following orders Maze. This is where the Clankers are. There's not just the Temple and Senate to protect. But the whole planet."
The massed ranks of the battle droids just kept coming towards them. Maze fired his dual blasters, while Fordo also had DS15S rifle blaster across his back. The lines of droids shattered.
"They don't make 'em like they used to." Deadpanned Fordo.
"Nah! That's what spooks do— sabotage!"
He barked out another laugh.
"I appreciate it. Tell 'em thanks."
They soon cleared the battle droids but the Super Battle Droids were another matter. Sometimes you had to get up close and personal to deal with them. Blaster or vibroblade to gaps under the armpits.
Fordo fired at the head of the nearest one while Maze rushed forward ducking under the blaster fire and came up, ramming both his blasters under the armpits and fired. Then he heard the familiar sound of the LAATi's.
"Air Support! Retreat!" ordered Fordo.
They back tracked quickly over some rubble, and lay down.
"Crazy barve!" Muttered Fordo on a private channel.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Retorted Maze, breathless.
He heard Fordo bark another laugh in response.
.
Tualin Oola basement.
They sat in shock at the announcement. HNN had continued broadcasting and Grievous had piggybacked onto their signal.
His wheezing voice gloated, as he shared his victory in kidnapping the Chancellor from under the eyes of the Jedi Council and the GAR, with the whole galaxy.
Essie slumped in her seat.
Was it over?
Where is Maze?
"Essie. It's not over yet." Nat was the voice of optimism, "The Chancellor is just one man. He can be replaced, about time too if you ask me. There's still all these droids. We have to be careful but Maze, he's in the Barracks. He'll be safe."
"I hope so."
She'd had a headache off and on since she left the office and now finally it was receding.
.
1085 days ABG - 20 minutes after the Chancellors abduction.
"Rex. Good to hear from you!"
Maze dropped his pace to fast walk but had still not reached the Barracks. They had failed to protect the Chancellor but what had happened stank, something wasn't right. Fordo had been called to another part of the City and Zey recalled him.
"How is it there?"
"Bad."
"Sorry, but this is business."
"Go ahead!"
"I need a good medic, or rather Commander Appo needs a good medic."
"Appo? I thought …."
"Don't go there! We've had to split the Battalion. I'm heading to Mandalore, while General's Kenobi and Skywalker hunt for Grievous."
"Oh!"
"Not my first choice but I was overridden."
"You can gave Jab. He's the best we have."
"I'll send over the orders."
"On loan only."
"Understood. Rex out."
Maze upped his pace, then saw the CSF speeder and hailed it.
.
Jab pulled on his armour and relaxed into his second skin; he didn't wear it as often as a normal trooper did. The orders had come through; he'd been seconded to the 501st, after they had been split into the 332nd under Commander Rex on Mandalore and the remainder under Commander Appo to help with retrieving the Chancellor kidnapped by Grievous. The 332nd were on Coruscant and needed experienced medics, even their CMO was MIA; he remembered Kix from way back. Good medic. Bad loss.
It was time to finish getting armoured up but he had a call to make first. He opened up his com and tapped in the number.
"Freyu? Are you two okay?"
He listened carefully to the reply. He kept it on audio, the volume low.
"I'm worried about you too. You stay in the shelter. We've got men out fighting everywhere. I'll be fine."
He listened again and smiled.
"Thank you. I'm sure it will be over soon and I'll come and see you after."
She said something else; he paused before replying.
"Freyu….I love you too."
He closed the com and set off to find Captain Maze.
.
The Captain was back in his usual place, the Ops Room; it was a mess, the rest of the barracks was empty, everyone else was in the battle or on their way back to the Core to join its defence.
Omega and Yayax were deployed on the ground with Lieutenant Aven; one of Maze's buddies, Jab had seen him on the way out. He recognised who were Alphas, they had this way about them.
They weren't even sure where Grievous was now but it looked as if he had the Chancellor on his ship, the Invisible Hand.
Jab stood to attention at the door.
"He must have bloody durasteel balls." Maze muttered to himself.
There was only Advisor One left with him and Jab ignored the Captain's mutterings.
He knew it would rankle with him but the General had ordered Maze to remain now to oversee the men on the ground.
"Sir!" He saluted, "Reporting to confirm transfer to the 501st."
Maze turned around and waved him in.
"At ease, soldier. I'm sorry to lose you. The 501st are lucky to have you and we will probably need you more after this."
"Hopefully it's only temporary, sir."
"I never really thanked you for everything—Jab."
"It was my pleasure."
Maze watched him closely.
"It's been an honour!" He saluted his medic, and friend.
.
ARCA Barracks.
1087 days ABG
[1]
"Good shopping trip?" Maze said. "Shoot any looters?" Ordo took off his helmet and clipped it to his belt. "Mongrels bewilder me. If I were going to steal in a crisis, I'd have weapons and food. Not garments. Is Zey around?"
"He's in his office. It's back to normal—too many fronts to cover, too few men, Jedi generals spread all over the place."
"Ironic, given our sudden expansion."
The two ARCS strode down to see Zey. Ordo tossed a datachip to the general.
"Intel on Grievous's whereabouts," Zey looked at Ordo with a completely blank expression. "Grievous," Ordo repeated. "Jaing and Kom'rk tracked him to Utapau—he's still there now. There's the layout of the camp from the areas they could access remotely. Who are you going to send after him—that windbag Kenobi? General Yoda's your best bet, if he wasn't occupied elsewhere."
Zey's corrugated brow suggested that he found it significant that Jaing and Kom'rk had struck pay dirt at this particular time.
"You don't approve of General Kenobi, then."
"Cody might think the sun shines out of his arse, General, but I think he's a glory seeker who wastes too many men."
"As he's fond of saying from a certain point of view?" Zey clearly knew better than to debate with Ordo. He put his hand briefly to his chest as if stomach acid was playing him up. "This may well be the beginning of the end, Captain. Thank you."
Ordo half turned for the doors. "I'm not banking on it."
"Captain." Zey put out his hand to beckon Ordo back. I
"Captain, you don't like the Jedi Order, do you? Just tell me why?"
Maze stood like a statue, nostrils flaring slightly as he tried to take deep breaths without opening his mouth.
"Because you can't see what you've degenerated into," Ordo said. "That's what comes from having one leader dominate your organization for centuries. You need a big change in command structure. But maybe you don't see anything wrong in creating clones with no choice when you take Force sensitive children and turn them into Jedi whether they want to or not."
"I think the whole Republic needs a change of management.
"The War is wrong. Our compliance with it is wrong. And Palpatine has outstayed his welcome."
Maze still didn't move a muscle, but Ordo was hypersensitive to the slightest sound. The Alpha ARC held his breath for a moment. He wasn't happy with that, not at all.
Maze hadn't expected to hear that from the General. Palpatine was elected.
"Don't forget your slave army," Ordo said, then with two fingers to his temple in a not-quite-salute. "That wasn't the smartest move either."
Ordo left with Maze close on his heels. He strode ten paces and then halted to spin around.
Maze stopped dead behind him. Their eyes locked.
"There was a time," Ordo said, "when you'd have tried to punch me out for not kissing his Force-using shebs." He offered Maze a strip of ruik.
Maze accepted the proffered snack. "I just wanted to talk. I'm no fan of Palpatine, either, but he was elected, more or less, and the Jedi weren't. Who are they to judge who runs the Republic?"
"My, Jango's little gung-ho pep talks didn't work they?"
"Jango's orders were to serve the Republic. Not the Jedi. They're like us. Instruments of the state."
"Maze, I'm amazed his orders weren't to kill the Jedi, given what happened to him at Galidraan."
"But it's good to see that you Alphas aren't all Jedi-worshipping planks"
Maze raised an eyebrow. "Orders, you crazy Null boy, you should try following them sometimes. They're what separates the army as the expression of the electorate's will from an armed rabble out for its own ends."
"You've been reading holobooks."
No—studying with Essie.
"You sound like a civvy." Maze retorted.
"I should smack you one for that."
"While you're out on the town with your lady friend, what do you think the likes of me and the white jobs do with our off-duty hours? You think we're put back in stasis, offline for the duration like good little droids? Me, I read. Some guys play limmie. Some watch the kind of holovids that just make you realize what you can't have. But I read."
Maze laid it on with a trowel but he made his point and Ordo didn't argue it.
"You know what your future is, don't you?" Ordo said.
"Body bag, or a couple of rounds to the head. Best scenario clone instructor. Yeah, I know. Zey offered to relocate me, shall we say. He was very upset to find out about the Republic's approach to ARC retirement."
"Let me know if you want relocation, then. I can do a better job than Zey."
"I'll bet." Maze chewed thoughtfully. "But it's nice of him to even offer when other Jedi just snap their fingers at you and call you clone."
"Tell me something," Ordo said. "I was raised as a son, not a commodity. I'm fully aware that clones are exploited. Do you have a sense of injustice?"
"Too right I do," Maze said quietly and he wanted to see her now.[1]
.
Residential District.
Galactic City
Coruscant
1087 days ABG
Essie was pacing the basement again.
"Kriff! You're like a caged Nexu." Muttered Nat.
She glared at him, then her com beeped. She rushed to pick it up.
"Maze!"
"Essie. It's good to hear your voice." He sounded tired, his last stim was wearing off.
"Are you okay? You sound…" Essie asked.
"I'm alive!" he snapped, "Sorry, I'm fine."
"You always say that." she didn't pursue how he snapped.
"I'm always fine." He was, now he could hear her voice, "Dooku's dead. They've got the Chancellor and they've found him." Maze said, "Grievous and the Chancellor. Hopefully it'll be over soon. But it's safer outside."
"Have you been fighting?"
"Of course! And finding Grievous would've been better a week ago." He was still on edge.
"Yes. All the casualties, the damage."
"The droids are gone and Kenobi's after him."
"Will you be able to come over?" she asked tentatively.
"Not yet. It's still business as usual here. The war isn't over yet."
"Oh!" She had been too optimistic.
"If you need to get food. It's reasonably safe." He thought about the looters, "There's a lot of troopers out there, so stick to the main areas and take your blaster just in case."
"I will but we're okay so far."
"I'll call back soon." the com clicked off.
She didn't feel Sol's hand resting on her shoulder.
.
Galactic City.
Coruscant.
1089 days ABG
21:00 hours.
Essie piloted the speeder slowly through the Skylanes to the Senate Administrative Building, mentally kicking herself for leaving her personal datapad in the office in the rush to evacuate; she was praying no one picked it up. As she moved slowly along the skylanes, building and demolition droids were already working on rebuilding damaged buildings and there were still lots of troopers around just as Maze said. Del was with Sol and Nat; they had all decided it was safer for them to continue to stay at the Oola for the moment.
The sky was bright with it's enhanced sunlight belying what had just happened.
Her datapad had some of Maze's messages and Janyne's contact details in it, including who she was; in addition it had her thesis on it criticising Palpatine, his rise to power and how he conducted the War. She didn't want it to get into the wrong hands. There were still Separatists around being hunted. But the Chancellor was safe. The two Jedi had rescued him, at great cost it would appear.
She inched the speeder into the Senatorial parking area and pulled into a space near the wall. There were still speeders parked there, including Den's, he must have come back soon after the end of the battle for something.
Something was happening, she could feel it, one of her headaches had come on quickly. Then more, pain from a great many people; she had never felt anything like this before. It was something big; a searing pain shot through her head and she couldn't see anything. Just darkness.
She lurched forward.
Nobody heard the crash when her speeder hit the wall.
.
A/N - Sometimes I just like Ordo's and Maze's interaction in the books.
[1] Karen Traviss. Republic Commando Order 66