Author's Note: Huge thanks to CoyoteN7 for the approved use of Xur Eon in this chapter! If you'd like to read more about his legendary OC during the events of Fallen Order, check out his story Star Wars Eons: Inquisition. I have and it ROCKS!
-Chapter 98: From a Different Point of View-
Location: Republic Army Barracks, Coruscant
"You may see the desert, but the eyes of another sees the grains of sand."
It was an unusual moment for the 501st Legion. Being one of the more famous detachments of the Clone army, the 501st typically found themselves racing around the galaxy to various battlefields with their Jedi General and Commander. But with Anakin unconscious and out of action until further notice, high command had seen to ordering something of a retrofit of the Legion, what with General Xur Eon and his 502nd Clones taking charge for a while.
Captain Rex was familiar with General Eon, good friends with him too. He had no issues with working under his command, even if that meant doing things a little bit differently than Anakin.
In Rex's eyes, Xur Eon was an infinitely better replacement than Pong Krell.
Sitting on his bunk, taking a few tools to his prosthetic arm, Rex calmly and quietly worked on updating the synapse responses while Tempest Company casually enjoyed their downtime along with him. They all shared a room in the Coruscant Barracks, with a bunk for each of them plus a few more. There were ten in total with three left unoccupied.
Sixshot was busy cleaning his rotary cannon, Lugnut was polishing his armor, Ransack was laying down and reading a datapad while Reverb and Backlog made smalltalk. Jolt was nowhere to be seen, but suddenly appeared with a tube under his arm. He marched right over to the wall behind his bunk and unrolled a poster, quickly putting it up. It turned out to be a pin-up of a Lethan Twi'lek wearing Clone armor in a bikini style in a rather alluring pose over the phrase Support The Troops! in Aurebesh.
"There we go, boys! A nice dash of color to liven up the joint." Jolt announced, looking proudly upon the display. One by one, the Clones glanced over and offered a couple of affirming words or an appreciative nod. Rex took a look and turned to his lieutenant with a look of chagrin.
"Really Jolt?" He asked, clearly unimpressed.
"Aw come on Rex! It's a bit of class! And she's red! How often do you see a red one?"
"Rumor has it the Seppies have one that's an admiral." Backlog piped up.
"Seriously? What do those damn droids have that we don't?" Jolt wondered aloud.
"They're not tasteless?"
"Shut up Reverb." The Clones snickered as Rex sighed and stood.
"Jolt, you do realize we have a Commander that is a woman?" He stated, walking over to him.
"Yeah. Why?" Jolt replied.
"What if she waltzes in here and sees that?" Rex asked, worried how Ahsoka might react.
"What if General Secura sees it? Come on, you know the Star Corps has way worse. I've heard that some of them have personal holos of her." Rex simply crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Rex, it's fine. Honestly, all the barracks have something and I figured we needed a poster ourselves." Jolt continued, trying to defend his actions.
"Couldn't she have been blue?" Sixshot wondered from his bunk. "You know, 'cause Five-Oh-First colours?"
"No can do, the Four-Twenty-Eighth already has one." Jolt answered.
"Now what do those flyboys need with a blue girl, huh? Why can't they be like the others with... Y-wing and Zed-Ninety-Five posters everywhere?" Sixshot complained.
"I think you two are missing the point." Ransack interjected, who'd been quietly listening to the exchange.
"Yeah. By a huge margin." Rex agreed. "Jolt, I really don't think it's a good idea."
"Aw, lighten up Cap! Everyone else has one."
"If everyone else were jumping off a bridge would you do it too?" Rex asked, resorting to one of the oldest known talks known to the galaxy.
"If there were a bunch of Twi'lek dancers at the bottom, hell yes I would!" Jolt responded with a cheeky grin.
"I would too!" Sixshot loudly agreed. Rex sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You two are incorrigible." He muttered.
"I wouldn't worry too much about Commander Tano, Rex. Now if it were a Togruta on that poster or... hell, even her-"
"Don't even go there." Rex growled. Ahsoka may be his commander, but he often thought of her like a kid-sister and on more than one occasion had to give a few shinies a good dressing-down for their comments about her.
Besides, she was a teenager. Way too young for any Clone to be looking at the wrong way.
"Just saying. I'd do something about it." Jolt quickly replied, hands up in a show of passivity. Before Rex could continue, the room door slid open and a trio of Clones in unpainted armor arrived with kit bags in hand.
"Captain Rex, sir?" The one in front asked. Rex turned to them, leaving Jolt alone for a moment.
"Go ahead, trooper."
"We've been assigned to Five-Oh-First, sir. All three of us." The Clone stated. Rex couldn't tell if he was eager or nervous. But his passive state was showing signs of underlying emotions.
"Well then, welcome to the unit. What's your designations?" He asked.
"CeeTee Twenty-two Twenty-two reporting for duty sir." The Clone to the rigth quickly stated with a salute.
"We call him, Two-Two. Name's Sounder, sir, CeeTee Seventy-One-Oh-One." The leader informed him.
"CeeTee Thirty-Three Fifty-Eight reporting, Captain. Call me Shadow."
"Bunch of shinies, eh?" Jolt mused.
"No, Lieutenant. We're formerly of Darkhawk Company." Sounder answered. Rex's eyes lit up at the mention of the name.
"Darkhawk? That was part of the Thirty-First Spec Ops Regiment." He stated. Among the army, the 31st had been referred to as 'Thrawn's Army' after he had led them in an attempt to stop Wraith on Diado. Dozens of specialists had been lost during that encounter, including a few ARC troopers. "What happened to you lot?" He asked, curious about their fate.
"Bounced around for a bit after the Regiment was disbanded. We're ARC troopers, sir. They tried to make the best of us. Most of the squad was killed in various engagements, including our team leader; Sergeant Spyke." Sounder told him. "Now it's just the three of us."
"I remember Darkhawk. Good soldiers, one and all. Welcome to the Five-Oh-First, I know you'll fit right in." Rex warmly told them. The Clones seemed relieved to hear that.
"Thank you, sir." Sounder replied as the trio picked up their kit and made for the empty bunks, passing by Jolt's as they did.
"Heh, nice!" Shadow grinned, checking out the Twi'lek poster.
"I know right?" Jolt agreed with a smug look. Rex just rolled his eyes.
"Coulda been blue, though."
"I know, right?" Sixshot suddenly chimed in, repeating Jolt and earning a chorus of laughs from the others. "Two-Two... how'd you earn that one?" Sixshot asked the other Clone, snickering a little at his feminine-sounding nickname.
"Either there's one two too many in my serial," Two-Two responded, "or it's because I prefer to pack in twos." He added, patting the holster of one of his twin DC-17's. Sixshot nodded in approval. He could appreciate a Clone with a shared love of firearms.
"Nice." Two-Two began stowing his gear alongside Sounder and Shadow, just in time for the door to open again as Ahsoka Tano arrived. "Commander on deck!" Sixshot quickly called out.
"Ten-HUT!" Rex shouted, all ten forms quickly forming equal lines and standing at attention, all of them with backs ramrod straight and eyes staring straight ahead. Ahsoka walked past them, deeming the maneuver unnecessary given her informal reason to be there, but applauding the Clone's ability to rapidly adapt to military procedures. She paused near Jolt's bunk, catching sight of the poster and moseyed over to look at it. The Captain cringed internally, fearing what might come next.
"Huh. Classy." Ahsoka mused, earning scattered looks of surprise from Rex and Jolt. "Still, I think the one the Two-Twelfth has looks better. Maybe it's something about Zeltron pink on orange..." She commented. She'd been around the Clone barracks enough times to know that posters of beautiful women from a variety of species in skimpy outfits and provocative poses were pretty popular among them, save for the 501st as Rex's preferred taste seemed to be for none at all. This one was new, though. When she was younger, she'd balked at the rather brutish objectification. But now she was somewhat used to it, taking her time to compare poses and colours and slogans out of sheer curiosity, building quite the mental database of pin-ups. She never did understand the appeal, but guys would be guys she supposed.
But... not Wraith. He was a different kind of guy...
"At ease, men." She quickly instructed, shaking herself from her brief reverie. "Rex, I see you've met our newest boys?" She addressed the Captain.
"Yes, Commander. They just arrived." Rex responded in his usual quick, clipped tone.
"Good, glad to see things are kind of settling." She mused. The whole turnover hadn't exactly been an easy one for them, given Anakin's sudden check-in to the Halls of Healing, Ahsoka herself just getting caught up on the recent changes to her usual Legion.
"How's General Skywalker?" Rex inquired.
"He's still out cold. Likely will be for a while. You'll just have to get used to Xur for the time being." Ahsoka replied, having checked on Anakin only recently.
"Permission to speak frankly, Commander?" Rex asked. A curious Ahsoka nodded slowly.
"Granted."
"I'd prefer to work under General Eon any day. Anyone who's not Pong Krell, really." Rex stated, several of Tempest Company nodding in agreement. Ahsoka audibly chuckled.
"I hear you." She emphasized. Though she hadn't been there herself, the stories they'd all told from Umbara were the stuff of nightmares. "I'm off to speak with Xur now. As you were, men." She stated in brief parting, making for the exit once more as the Clones lost their rigidity.
"See? It's fine!" Jolt stated as soon as the door slid close.
"You got lucky." Rex replied. "General Ti wouldn't have stood for it."
What could be said about Xur Eon that hadn't already been said? The red-skinned Zabrak was something of an anomaly among the Jedi; bold but not to the point of cocky or arrogant, powerful but controlled and diligent. An extremely powerful Force-user, Xur was gifted with a kind of immunity to the Dark Side's corruptive influence, allowing him to dip into it's varied powers and abilities and emerge still as dedicated to the Light as before.
A full two years older than Ahsoka, Xur had been left on the Temple steps as a child and was immediately taken in by Mace Windu. While she wasn't sure if she'd been there longer than him or not, she did know that they'd become good friends while growing up and, while the contact had waned due to the war, thought highly of Xur.
Said Zabrak was with two of his Clones, Lockdown and Raven, when Ahsoka arrived in the hub.
"Long time no see, stranger." She greeted with a smile as Xur turned around with bright eyes.
"Sure has, Tano, sure has." He agreed, dismissing the Clones with a quick gesture as he approached the Togruta. He'd always addressed her by her last name for as long as she could remember. It was unique to him and she didn't mind it. He called her 'Tano', her master called her 'Snips', Master Plo called her 'Soka', most others used her first name or just 'Padawan'. Wraith, well, he had a bevy of titles or nicknames at his disposal. He called her 'babe' once, and she liked that. It made her feel real special.
"So, how's life in the Outer Rim?" Ahsoka wondered.
"Oh, you know, Master Junda's giving me hell for being too violent and whatever, Master Windu's giving me sithspit for getting too angry and whatever," Xur griped, casually dismissing the scoldings he'd recently received.
"Don't tell me, let me guess, and Master Tapal's giving you flak for being too aggressive 'and whatever'." Ahsoka assumed.
"Close. That would be Master Syn." He corrected. "Everybody's getting on my case all the damn time, you know how it is." He passively remarked. "Because I 'don't act like a Jedi' and 'need to keep my emotions in check' and all that." He sarcastically continued, earning an eye roll from Ahsoka. While some Jedi deemed him in need of discipline, Xur never took them seriously. He was fine and he knew it. "But they're not the man who led the victorious rush that finally conquered Tranbir Nine." Xur proclaimed with arms extended. "Clankers didn't stand a chance against me."
"Oh really?" Ahsoka sarcastically wondered. "This oughta be good."
"Oh it was." Xur agreed with a grin. "We booked it from the trench at a dead sprint straight across a mudbank, shells exploding everywhere. I took out a couple of cannons they set up, none too well might I add. I mean, seriously, what do those droids have for processors? Rocks? Who puts a cannon on top of what's basically quicksand but mud?" He wondered mockingly. "Anyway, I scrapped them before they could even think about kriffing us up."
"And so the 'Great Jedi war hero' strikes again." Ahsoka summarized. "Let me guess, they decided to punish you by handing you control over my boys?"
"I'll admit, I didn't see it coming." Xur replied with hands raised. "But these guys are no problem. Rex didn't salute when he saw me, just fist-bumped!" He joked, making her laugh. Since Xur's own 502nd Clones were former 501st members, it made sense to Ahsoka that he'd get on well with them. Especially since Rex offered such high praise only a few minutes ago. "You wanna run a few missions with me? This is your unit after all." He offered. "You should join me some time. I bet we could do some real damage together. All of us." Ahsoka appreciated his willingness to let her rejoin the group, if only for a brief bit. Working with Master Plo and the 104th Battlaion was fine, but they just weren't the 501st. They were the Clones she'd pretty much grown up with. They meant a lot to her, even if the roster had changed over the years.
"Tempting. Very tempting." She agreed. "I'll take it up with Master Plo and we'll see." She had been explicitly ordered to remain under his tutelage until Anakin had recovered, so it might take some doing to even get a temporary switch planned out.
"Great. Now enough about me, tell me about you. What's been going on?" Xur asked, plunking himself down in a chair.
"Oof, where do I start?" Ahsoka exhaled sitting next to him. "Obviously you know about Anakin." The instant she brought it up, she could sense a sudden dip in Xur's emotions. He'd been happy and good-natured, but now she sensed grave concern replacing it. Xur had known Anakin since he was Obi-Wan's apprentice, a lot longer than she had. They were good friends, even similar in some ways. Certain exasperated Jedi Masters could talk about their youthful stunts and how leashes were very nearly considered for them. Suffice to say, Xur had enough of a connection to Anakin to be worried about him.
"Yeah. Checked in on him the other day. Can't believe he's still out cold." The Zabrak muttered.
"They wanted to make sure any toxins were flushed from his system first." Ahsoka explained, having been visiting Anakin as often as she could while trying to get any updates she could out of Master Nima.
"What was it again? I remember hearing something like eight or nine slugs in his gut."
"Close. It was sixteen." Ahsoka corrected.
"Sweet kriffing Force," Xur breathed, slumping a little in his seat, "how the hell did that happen?"
"You heard about the prison break, right? It was one of those Ubese mercs that unloaded into him while he was trying to nab Wraith." She explained, having seen part of it herself.
"Damn Ubese," Xur grumbled, "real scumbags, the lot of 'em. We didn't do anything to them and yet they get all..." Xur started making motions with his hands to try and describe where he was going and Ahsoka could sense he had a few very choice words in mind, "just don't get me started on them." He finally stated.
"Yeah, well, at least it didn't kill him." Ahsoka mused.
"It damn nearly did." Xur replied.
"Honestly, it was kind of a shock to the system. Gave us all a moment to pull back and reset." Ahsoka continued. "Everyone was living high after they captured Wraith, maybe we needed this to ground us again."
"Nobody deserves to get sixteen slugs pumped into them, Ahsoka." Xur quickly said, sounding almost irritated that she didn't sound nearly as concerned as he was.
"Yeah, I know, I didn't mean it like that." She quickly elaborated. Though maybe she did, she wasn't sure. "But when he comes around, maybe... I dunno..." losing her thoughts to notions that Anakin maybe did deserve to get put under for being as ruthless as he was towards Wraith, Ahsoka shrugged it off before she made a mistake. "Forget I said anything." Xur gave the slightest nod before moving on.
"You said they were freeing Wraith, right?" "What's his deal? I've heard reports but never even seen him before."
"He's..." Ahsoka trailed off, a flurry of inappropriate words coming to mind. Her boyfriend, the sweetest guy she'd ever met, handsome, perfect, kind, considerate, "a super-soldier the Separatists designed to be the answer to Jedi and Clones."
"Can't be all that great if he got captured."
"But he escaped."
"With help," Xur pointed out, "trust me, Tano, Separatist 'super-soldiers' are a dime a dozen. I fought Durge on Bracca, a Gen'Dai who can grow a new arm if he needs to. They were calling him 'stumpy' after I finished." Ahsoka had heard of Durge before, but never encountered the heavily armored Gen'dai. He sounded like a nightmare for any Jedi to face, especially the way Obi-Wan described him. "I'm positive it'll be the same story with this Wraith guy; all bluster and no foundation."
"Xur, I've fought him before. Seriously, he's no joke. He put Anakin in a coma before." She cautioned, trying to play the part of just another Jedi who wasn't invested in him at all. Fortunately, Xur didn't suspect anything.
"Then he'll be less than 'stumpy' by the time we're done with him." He stated. For some reason, Ahsoka felt personally insulted by Xur's zealous desires. He was talking about Wraith, sure, but she found it offensive and hurtful. She didn't like this and decided to change the topic if only to keep her own head straight.
"If you run into him. Aren't they going to shoo you back to the Outer Rim soon?" Ahsoka queried.
"You could come with. I hear Crait's lovely this time of year." Xur replied.
"I think you need the bonding time with Rex and Tempest Company." Ahsoka countered.
"Eh, maybe you're right." Xur shrugged. "They're a new batch, yeah?"
"Mostly. Some were transfers. But they're good, they held their own on Umbara."
"And what a kriffing nightmare that was." Xur agreed with a shake of his head. "Damn Krell... who would've guessed? I knew he was hard on Clones... but I wish I'd been there."
"You and me both." Ahsoka solemnly concurred. The Legion was a lot like a family to her. She cared about them; Rex, Tempest Company, all of them.
"Still, any time you want to join in on a mission, the door is open." Xur offered once more.
"Considering this is my unit, it'd better be." Ahsoka joked, making him laugh.
Elsewhere on Coruscant...
It was a good thing Coruscant's planetary defence system was partially automatic and more remotely controlled over having a manual operation team. it made for a much easier infiltration.
At the base of the massive planetary shield generator, Wraith dutifully hacked the central terminal with the tools in his gauntlet. On his belt was a slicer with a single set of code on it that would sit in the system and remain innocuous and anonymous to anyone checking. Unfortunately for them, on command, the virus would attack the system and effectively remove control from the Republic and hand it over to anyone with the signal it had been programmed to obey. Wraith envisioned the moment the shield fell apart to the dismay of all the personnel putting their faith in it... and he relished the thought...
Author's Note: This won't be the last of Xur, that much I can promise you. But, phew, an absolute firestorm of chapters over the past few days. Aren't you all getting spoiled ;) Guess the only good thing to come out of COVID was all this downtime with nothing but writing to do! Hard to believe we're rapidly approaching triple-digit chapters...
