Dogma kept his head down as the gunship came in to land on Tipoca City's landing platform. His hands were cuffed behind him, two vode were standing beside him, one very firmly keeping a hold of his shoulder to keep Dogma steady. The other had yet to make a move.
But now as the gunship landed on Kamino, the other trooper laid a firm hand on Dogma's back and with the other trooper gently pushed Dogma out of the transport.
Their grip on Dogma was gentle and comforting, as if they were trying to offer him some comfort before he was given over to the Kaminoans.
The Kaminii would want to tear Dogma apart to figure out why he had fired on Krell. They would want to know why their product failed.
Which meant that Dogma was going to die in the worst way possible.
He would be torn to pieces, his mind and body ripped apart over and over again until the Kaminoans finally killed him.
And by then death would almost be welcome.
For a moment Dogma longed for Tup, for his batchmates warm hugs and soft voice.
But he quickly shook that away.
Tup hated Dogma now, along with everyone else in the 501st.
Except perhaps Captain Rex.
The Captain had given Dogma a supportive nod right before he had been placed on a gunship to be sent back to Kamino.
But besides the Captain, there would be no one who would care that Dogma had been sent to his death. Not Tup. Not Fives. Not Kix. Not Jesse. No one.
If Echo was still alive, he would have fought tooth and nail before he let anyone take Dogma back to Kamino. But Echo was dead.
Dogma barely managed to hold back his tears as the two guards stopped him firmly in front of the Prime Minister of Kamino, Lama Su, and the chief scientist, Nala Se.
He remained in the spot he had been placed in as the two Kaminoans seemed to study him for a long moment.
They both stared at him before finally Nala Se spoke, "Follow me."
The two troopers at Dogma's back gently pushed him forward as they followed Nala Se through the winding halls of Tipoca City, away from the Prime Minister who watched them go silently with his cold black eyes.
Dogma tried to keep breathing normally, but it was getting harder to do that.
He was terrified.
No matter how much he tried to push away his fear, he couldn't fight the overwhelming rushes of terror from sinking into him. It was getting harder and harder to keep himself from crying.
Dogma was only eight and a half.
And he was about to die.
Dogma didn't want to die.
His breathing hitched a little as they turned down an empty hallway.
If Nala Se heard she didn't seem to care.
But behind him, one of the troopers squeezed his shoulder and murmured quietly enough that she definitely wouldn't hear him. "Udesii, vod'ika. Udesii."
Dogma didn't deserve to be called a brother. But he accepted the comfort almost desperately, soaking it in like a sponge.
They reached a huge white door, and Dogma tensed silently, the two troopers behind him once again giving him comforting shoulder squeezes.
The door opened, revealing a stereotypical medical room with a white table sat in the middle of the room. Dogma had a serious suspicion that he would soon be on that table and the tools in the surrounding room would very soon be used on him.
He closed his eyes, not wanting to see what was going to happen next.
The two troopers gently pushed him into the room. Once they were inside Dogma heard Nala Se turn nearly silently and say in her soft musical voice, "You are dismissed. Leave us."
"Yes, sir," both troopers chorused, although Dogma felt one of them squeeze his shoulder again.
And then they were gone, and Dogma was left alone with the scientist.
He opened his eyes as he heard movement in front of him and stared up at Nala Se blankly, waiting for whatever she was going to do to him to happen.
She merely stared down at him with her large void-like black eyes.
Her long white fingers lifted up a hypospray, flicking it silently before she quietly ordered, "CT-6922, get on the table."
Dogma lowered his gaze to the floor, and reluctantly obeyed. It was difficult to push himself onto the table with his hands cuffed behind his back, but he managed it. He sat, perched on the edge of the table as Nala Se towered over him.
He felt the hypospray jab into his neck, not very gently, causing him to wince in slight pain.
Then there was nothing but darkness.
111111111111111
Tup laid on his side in the barracks, gaze fixed on the wall his bunk was pushed against. He could feel tears at the corners of his eyes. He only barely managed to hold back from sobbing.
Around him he could hear the laughter and excited talking of the rest of his vode.
But he couldn't hear the familiar sound of his bunkmate moving above him.
And that was because Dogma, his bunkmate, his batchmate, was gone.
He had been taken back to Kamino. And that meant that Tup's vod'ika wasn't coming back.
The Kaminoans would rip Dogma apart and then use what remained to create more clones. Nothing of his vod'ika would remain.
Tup held back his tears as much as he could, trying to keep the rest of his vode from noticing that he was upset. He was so focused on trying to hold back his tears he didn't hear someone approaching him from behind.
"Tup?"
Tup let out a small yelp and spun around to stare up at Fives concerned eyes.
The ARC was frowning down at him in slight concern and worry. His eyes seemed to take in more of Tup than Tup wanted him to see.
Tup lowered his gaze, rubbing at his tear-filled eyes, as he said, "Sorry. You startled me, Fives. Do you need something?"
Fives remained silent for a moment before he took a step forward, sat down next to Tup on his bunk, and said, quietly, "Tup. . . you're crying."
"Am not," Tup immediately denied. "Soldiers don't cry."
Fives let out a soft sigh and reached forward, lifting Tup's chin up so that his face could face him. "Talk to me, Tup. What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Tup said quickly. Too quickly.
Fives raised an eyebrow at that, causing Tup to curl in on himself a little.
He lowered his eyes as much as he could with Fives holding his chin.
"Tup, I know that Dogma is. . . was your batchmate." Fives said gently. "I know that your upset about him being taken back to Kamino. I know that you miss him."
"No!" Tup cried out, tears finally falling down his face. "He was my twin! We came from the same tube! And I'll never see him again!"
Those words caused Fives to flinch back in shock, his face becoming quite shocked and horrified. "Your twin?" he whispered.
Tup sobbed brokenly, curling into himself. In an instant, Fives had wrapped himself around Tup, holding the back of Tup's head against his shoulder. His chin settled above Tup's head, tucking him under his chin as Tup finally lost himself.
Tup kept crying on Fives until he fell asleep.
11111111111111111
Dogma woke up slowly. He could feel metal at his back, his shirt had to have been removed because he could feel the coldness of the metal. Cold metal cuffs curved around his wrists, tightly. He flinched as a memory of being tied down, a needle sliding into his neck appeared in his mind. He could hear voices resounding from nearby that pulled him out of the memory that wasn't his.
". . . most curious. I wish to keep CT-6922 alive for further study, Prime Minister."
"I see, Doctor," the voice of the Prime Minister said coolly. "You have my permission. But this must be kept under wraps. It would not do for Lord Tyranus to discover that our original hypothesis has been proven wrong. Let no one know, especially not General Ti. Put in CT-6922's file that he was decommissioned."
"Yes, Prime Minister."
Dogma opened his eyes dully as he heard a door open then close. He stared dazedly up at the ceiling above his head, the white of it nearly blinding him.
He turned his head slowly to the side, catching sight of Nala Se.
She was studying a datapad, her huge black eyes fixed on it.
She looked up when Dogma shifted against his restraints and set down the datapad. Then she headed over to him, causing Dogma to cringe back against the table.
Nala Se picked up a hypospray off a side table positioned next to the table Dogma was laid against.
She carefully studied him as he quailed back as far as he could away from her.
"Be still," she murmured as she gently grasped Dogma's chin and turned his head to the side, giving her access to his unprotected neck. "You have nothing to fear."
Dogma bit his lip as the hypospray slid into him, the injection making him dizzier than he had been upon waking up.
As the world swam around him, the last thing Dogma felt was the smooth hands of a Kaminoan stroke his jawline.
And then the world went black again.
1111111111111111111
Fives grimly stood next to Captain Rex and General Skywalker as they waited for General Ti to join them via comm. With any luck, General Ti would be able to help them get Dogma back from the Kaminii.
Fives took a deep breath, trying to calm himself as his mind went to Tup's sadness over the loss of his twin. It reminded him all too much of his own situation when Echo had died.
It didn't help that Dogma was so much like Echo. Or that Echo had doted on Dogma back when he had been alive.
Fives blamed himself for what had happened to Dogma. If he had been paying more attention he might have realized what his vod'ika had been about to do before he shot Krell.
Fives silently lowered his head as he thought, his guilt building more and more the longer he thought about his vod'ika.
A hand fell on Fives shoulder, nearly causing him to jump in surprise.
He looked up, meeting Rex's sad, tired eyes.
Rex muttered to him gently, "You alright, Fives?"
Fives shrugged silently and turned away from Rex.
"Fives," Rex's voice was soft and tired. "It wasn't your fault, vod'ika."
"It was my blaster," Fives responded quietly. "I should have realized what he was going to do."
Rex shook his head sadly. "There was nothing you could have done. I should have been able to go through with it. If I had, Dogma wouldn't have been sent back to Kamino."
"It's neither of your faults," another voice interrupted them, slight anger and pain echoing in it. "It's mine."
Fives and Rex both turn to face their General. General Skywalker looked exhausted and very upset. Rex took a short step towards him and laid a hand on the General's shoulder.
"You didn't know, sir," Rex said quietly. "You didn't know that General Krell had. . ."
"Turned to the Dark Side?" General Skywalker said flatly as he shook his head. "I should have known, Rex. I am a Jedi. I should have sensed what he had become. But I didn't. And I left you and the men in the hands of someone who tried to kill you all."
"Even so," Fives said, as he quietly stepped forward, laying a hand on the General's other arm, "it's not your fault, sir. No one could have predicted it, General Krell becoming a traitor. You shouldn't blame yourself for something that was out of your control."
General Skywalker let out a quiet sad sigh.
The conversation was interrupted when the comm beeped. Nearly as one, Fives, Rex, and General Skywalker spun as the comm activated, revealing the graceful and elegant form of General Ti.
"General Ti," Fives breathed out, partly relieved to see the graceful Jedi that had given him and his squad a second chance.
"Master Ti," General Skywalker said suddenly calm. "What have you found? Have you managed to ensure Dogma's return to Torrent?"
General Ti let out a quiet, sad sigh, and quietly responded. "Unfortunately the Kaminoans moved quicker than we did."
"What do you mean, General?" asked Rex, fear beginning to color his voice.
Fives could feel a lump beginning to grow in his throat as General Ti slumped slightly as she gently rubbed at her head.
"Doctor Nala Se informed me, when I requested that Dogma be returned to the 501st, that they had already decommissioned him," General Ti explained, pain growing in her voice when she said the word 'decommissioned'.
"WHAT?!" shouted General Skywalker.
Fives let out a horrified gasp, tears slowly beginning to fall down his face as realization slammed into him.
He had failed his vod'ika.
Dogma was gone.
