"That can't be true."
"But it is." The jedi, a Master Tholme as he was introduced, said with a slightly pensive look on his face.
"That… time travel?" Bes said, mostly to himself.
Bly didn't know what to think about it either. He wasn't knowledgeable in the laws of… he didn't even know what time travel fell under in terms of the sciences. Maybe this truly was all force osik, of massive proportions. He had heard of some of the stuff that General Skywalker and General Kenobi got up to from Rex and Cody, and he couldn't even believe half of it.
Now, it seemed like he was living it, and he himself didn't believe it.
The situation had calmed down slightly and gotten more tense in other ways. They decided that they were not in immediate danger, but that a different location was in need. Having a conversation or conversations of this magnitude would require a comfortable setting, and a slave pit was hardly that.
The Twi'leks that were in the pit were sent back to their homes, with the slave chips removed before, and Master Tholme had sent his padawan, one Quinlan Vos to see that they were all sorted. It was odd for the ten ARC Troopers to see a man they knew as General Vos, so young and inexperienced. It was a real problem to try and wrap their minds around it all, since whenever any of them thought about Quinlan Vos, they always saw the general, and not the little kid he was now.
Someone else who wasn't helping the situation was still clinging to his leg.
"Bly."
Marshal Commander Bly looked down at the four-year-old Twi'lek who would grow up to be his general and gave her a small smile. Aayla Secura didn't even speak Basic, and for all that she… remembered, it seemed that her body just couldn't speak anything other than Ryl. Communication was hard, but she wasn't mad at them, Bes had managed to translate that much. She had hugged each and every one of them before reattaching herself to his leg, and many tears were shed.
Bly was certain Rocket was still teary eyed, and he was keeping his helmet on so that none of them would see it.
"But that doesn't make sense Gen- er… Master Tholme." Bes said, and Bly couldn't fault the man for his slip up.
They had been soldiers in a war less than two days ago, and now they were back in time before the war had even started. They had traveled back so far that their general was no more than a child, and all the vode hadn't even been put into production yet. Hells, the Prime himself was probably still half a child himself.
It didn't make sense, and it hurt to think about, but he had a feeling it was going to just get weirder.
Damned force osik.
"Unfortunately, it seems that this is your new reality." Master Tholme said. They were all sitting within the Jedi Master's ship, barely fitting into it in reality. The vessel hadn't been designed for this many people and there was almost no room left after they crammed in all their gear, weapons, and supplies that had been transported with them.
"Am I the only one who thinks this is cool?" Quinlan Vos asked.
"These men have been displaced padawan mine. They have been brought into the past, and most likely won't be able to return to their present." Master Tholme said.
"Sir, I think I can speak for all of us, in that we'd rather stay here." Captain Orn said, looking at the four-year-old Twi'lek attached to Bly's leg.
"Ah, yes, young Aayla Secura. She is abnormally strong in the force for one so young. Her mental shields are too advanced for a four-year-old." Master Tholme said.
"What happened that brought you guys here anyway?" Quinlan asked.
"We'd rather not speak on that. Not for now at least." Bly said and he felt General Secur- Aayla tug on his arm. He still felt guilty about it all, and even though Aayla seemed to remember it all and had forgiven them, it still didn't sit right with him.
They had killed her, they didn't deserve to be with her now, and in the past for Maker's sake.
"Bly." She said again, it was the only word of Basic she seemed to know.
"I shall not pry if you do not wish to speak on the subject." Master Tholme said. "The force is clouded around you all, however. Ten mandalorians and one jedi all from the future, or most of you are, I am still uncertain about the youngling's situation."
"Time travel, so cool. No one's going to believe us master." Quinlan Vos said while grinning and nodded his head.
"How is this even going to work?" Galle asked. "We… us just being here changes things."
"It certainly does." Master Tholme nodded to that.
"We could stop the war." Donn said, and Rod and Ball who sat on either side of him nodded as well. "We could stop it all from happening."
"That will require some explanation. You all have mentioned this war, referred to us as general, and speak of a grand army that the Republic has. I fear I may not like this future you are all from." Master Tholme said.
"No, you probably wouldn't." Bly said, running a hand down his face. His position on the floor was slightly awkward, and the lights of hyperspace came through the door to the cockpit, which some of them were sitting in. It really was a tight fit in this tiny ship.
"How about we start from the beginning than, the true beginning." Quinlan offered. "You said that you all aren't really mandalorians? So, if you're not, then what are you all?"
"We-" Bly didn't know how to explain it. They were genetically altered clones of a mandalorian bounty hunter, created for the Republic to fight the separatists. Created years in advance in fact, which now that he was thinking about it, was rather odd. How did the Republic and the Jedi even know there was going to be a war and that they'd be needed?
"We're soldiers." Corporal Slot said. "ARC Troopers."
They all nodded along to that.
"I'm unfamiliar with what an ARC Trooper is." Master Tholme said.
"Advanced Recon Commando." Bly explained. "We're trained to be the best. To take on armies and come out on the other side alive. It's a brutal process, but it got results, and our armor signifies our completing of the training."
They were all wearing the armor of the 327th Star Corps ARC Troopers. White plastoid painted gold of the 327th and each of them was equipped with a double pauldron and a kama. They had access to a wide range of weapons and supplies, and Bly knew for a fact that the ARC Troopers with him took full advantage of that. They were armed to the teeth, they had to be for Felucia, and now they were probably the most well-armed people in the galaxy.
"And you were all part of an army that the Republic raised?" Master Tholme said.
"Created. The Grand Army of the Republic was created." Orn corrected. "We're bred for war."
"We're clone troopers master jedi." Bes said. "We fight for the Republic, or we had been, until we were sent here."
"I'm sorry, clone troopers?" Quinlan asked. "You're all clones?"
"We all share the same face, but we're not all the same person." Bly said and looked at both jedi. He saw the master's eyes widen slightly while the padawan didn't keep his expression nearly as well.
"Bred for war." Master Tholme said mostly to himself. "I cannot say that I see the Republic taking such actions. From what I've heard, you men are basically slaves."
Bly winced at that, and he saw several of the others do the same. It was a hard topic to think and speak about, but it had been brought to attention before. Some didn't see the clones as anything but walking and living droids. Some had seen them as people, respected them, but others had not. Then there was the whole situation about whether they were slaves or not, and he didn't like to think about it often, but the question had always lingered at the back of his head.
What happens after the war?
"It has come up in the past." Bly said. "But the situation demanded it. Any talk of it wouldn't be considered until after the war was won."
"That just raises more concerns commander." Master Tholme said. "If what you say is true, then I cannot see how far the jedi have fallen to allow something like this to happen. Using a slave army… it goes against everything the Code stands for. What the Republic stands for."
"We didn't see it that way, if that helps." Galle offered.
"We knew what we were made for." Orn said. "Everything else was secondary to fighting for the Republic."
"And since we're in the past now?" Nix said. "We can probably stop it all from happening. Though I don't know how we're going to go about it."
"That is the question, isn't it?" Master Tholme said.
"Bly." Aayla said and patted his forearm. She crawled into his lap and Bly shifted so that it was a more comfortable seat for her. The lightsaber was also still on his belt, but she just ignored it and sat on one of his thighs, her weight light enough that he hardly felt it through the plastoid.
"Oh no, we're going to have to go to the High Council with this, aren't we?" Quinlan asked.
"I would think the situation would demand it." Master Tholme said.
"But how are we going to explain all of this?" Bly asked. "How do you two even believe us?"
"The force works in mysterious ways Commander Bly." Master Tholme said with a soft smile. "All we can do is trust that it guides us in the right direction."
Right direction…
Little Aayla Secura wrapped her arms around his chest, not even reaching all the way around, and she hummed into the force. Bly didn't even know how he knew she was doing it, but he felt a little better because of it. Some of the pressure had been taken off of his shoulders, if only slightly.
He didn't know if time travel was the right direction, but he was certainly willing to see just where it would lead them. He could deal with all the problems that this came with later.
Obi-Wan Kenobi had all but resigned himself to heading to Bandomeer to join the AgriCorps there. He wasn't going to get a master to choose him, so there wasn't really any point in attending his lessons anymore. There wasn't any need to learn about the history of such and such planet if he wasn't ever going to use said information anyway.
He still went to lightsaber practice, mostly for himself though, after Master Qui-Gon had refused to take him, there wasn't any point to impress anyone. Moving meditation was helpful, and even Bruck came around more often to go through the katas with him, which was a new experience, since the kid had been such an asshole for the longest time.
Yet, it seemed that both of them not getting chosen and ageing out was something that they could bond over, as weird as that was. Certainly, both of their groups of friends saw it that way. Bant and Garen made it abundantly clear that they thought that Bruck was up to no good. Aalto did the same for Bruck, but the initiate from Telos IV just waved him off.
They were both bound for the AgriCorps in a couple months, and it looked like they were going to be assigned to the same mission as well, so they might as well get to know each other.
That was easier said than done of course, but they were making progress.
Like right now, they were in each other's company and not insulting each other, that was progress in Obi-Wan's mind.
"I can hear your thoughts Kenobi." Bruck muttered as he sat a couple feet away. "Tighten those shields up."
"I'll have all the time in the world to do so whilst farming Chun." Obi-Wan replied. "Moving meditation was always something I excelled at after all."
"I don't think farming counts as moving meditation."
"Whatever you say Chun."
Bruck grumbled some more but eventually stopped and remained silent. He had rather abruptly reigned himself in and stopped all the teasing after that fateful sparring match. Obi-Wan didn't truly know what had changed, but Bruck had become different that day. Not more hateful or rash, but he seemed to have accepted their reality, and that they'd not be jedi knights, but Jedi of the AgriCorps.
It wasn't the same thing, but they'd get to still use the force and call themselves jedi, so it wasn't so bad.
"Quinlan Vos has entered the atmosphere; he'll be here in a couple moments." Bruck said suddenly, and Obi-Wan looked towards the sky.
Master Tholme's ship was rather small one, only carrying himself and Quinlan, and it took a moment for Obi-Wan to spot it. The standard Temple craft looked rather out of place amongst the traffic of Coruscant, and it became even stranger when it didn't head towards the Temple hangers.
It was heading straight for the front of the Temple itself.
The area leading towards the Temple entrance was wide and open, but it was by no means a landing pad!
"Bruck! He's landing nearly on the steps!" Obi-Wan said as he stood.
Bruck Chun opened his eyes and they widened slightly as the Temple craft came very close. He stood as well and both of them made their way a little higher on the steps, and several other jedi and passersby also stepped or ran out of the way. The craft came down with a rather unceremoniously loud thunk, and through the glass on the cockpit, Obi-Wan could see Quinlan Vos meeting their eyes and waving, a smile on his face.
"Of course, Vos chooses to land here of all places." Bruck said.
"Its Quinlan." Obi-Wan said with a shrug.
"You say that as if that's justification for all of thi- are those mandalorians?!"
Obi-Wan whipped around to see that, indeed, armored men were walking down the steps of the Temple craft. The armor they had was gold and white, but it also looked dirty from here. They also had various blasters on hand, and Obi-Wan was sure that half of those weren't even legal to own on Coruscant. He was pretty sure that one of the mandalorians was carrying a rocket launcher on his back, and another one had a weapon that looked like it was straight out of the Mandalorian Wars.
His confusion as to what was happening only grew as Master Tholme walked down the ramp while speaking to a mandalorian who had a Twi'lek in his arms. The Twi'lek was young, and she looked like she was asleep, and the mandalorian had his helmet off and clipped to his belt, right next to his-
"That's a lightsaber. Why does he have a lightsaber?" Bruck said mostly to himself.
"I don't… know." Obi-Wan managed to get out as Quinlan came waltzing over to the two of them. He smiled for Obi-Wan and not so much frowned as lost the smile for Bruck.
They'd come around eventually.
"Obi, Chun." Quinlan said.
"Vos." Bruck said.
"Quinlan, why do you have what looks like, ten mandalorians with you?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Well! You won't believe what happened on our mission to Ryloth. I'm talking giant space monsters, flying gundarks, and of course, time travel mandalorians." Quinlan said.
Obi-Wan gave Quinlan an expectant look and Quinlan just laughed.
"Vos might have finally lost it." Bruck muttered.
"Seriously Quin, what's going on? That mandalorian has a lightsaber for force sake!" Obi-Wan said and pointed to the very man as he walked by.
"What can I say? Time travel. Now! I have a High Council meeting to get to. Too-da-loo gentlemen!" And with that, Quinlan Vos skipped away to catch up with his master and the ten mandalorians and one Twi'lek who had just walked into the Temple.
No one had even stopped them all from walking in!
What was the galaxy coming to when no one was even phased by that?
