Annnnd here we go again, everyone! I know I keep saying I'm gonna keep to a more "regular" updating schedule but life loves making me a liar so, yeah...
Though I will admit, I kinda decided to try and go for the "less encompassing" version for, more reasons.
One is that I want you all to actually experience a FULL STORY not just... ya know, keep waiting for it.
Another is my guilt for the late chapters and that I'm always disappointing with the "wait to quality" ratio.
And lastly... I'm the sort of writer who won't write anything else until I've finished a project, even if I have them finished. And lately, I got a new writing itch to scratch. Due to that, there's a good chance I might post a one-shot or two while still working on this project. One I already have in mind (Still Star Wars but more in the Rebels area. Kalluzeb has kinda taken over writing shenanigans.)
So, yeah, that's kinda the latest what's happening on my end (besides the personal shit)
I still hope those of you who stuck around enjoy my humble things and thank you all for your love and support with my awful habits. You people are amazing! ^^
Standing there, in the darkly lit room, Kix wanted to blame the horror he saw on the lighting. But the crate itself gave off a soft blue light, so really, it couldn't be that. For a moment, staring at… that, he wanted to throw up.
A body, but hardly that anymore – it was mostly just skin and bone, wrapped and connected to wires and lines. Pale and weak, practically a walking corpse. He should know. He had seen enough of cold and dead bodies of his own brothers. But this one… This one was still alive. Somehow. Maybe it was the wiring? Or… something else. Either way, he saw the slow rise and fall of the clone's chest.
With bated breath, Kix removed the helmet and walked over, slowly. Carefully. His hands were shaking slightly, and a chill was going through his whole body. Each step sounded far too loud to his ears, but the cyborg in the chamber didn't seem to move. In fact, it didn't seem the soldier even noticed anyone was even here.
Moving in close enough that he could see into the crate, the medic found it hard to swallow. A lump lodged itself into his throat and a weak choked sound escaped him.
This was a horror. Whatever they had done to this poor soul, it was almost torture. The way his eyes looked at nothing, but flickered, just slightly. How his whole body was shaking, malnutrition and weak.
"W-Who are you?" Kix whispered, afraid almost. The clone didn't seem familiar. But the medic in him knew what he had to do – help him. Somehow. Anyway, he could. And he'd do that.
Kneeling there, setting the helmet down, he reached up but paused, unsure where to even start. It's not like he even brought his kit with him, damn!
'Calm down' he told himself, closed his eyes and took a breath. Opening them again, he swallowed and reached for the clone, feeling along for a pulse. It was there. Weak, but there. That's good. At the contact though, the cyborg stirred a bit, head-turning to the medic, blank eyes seeming to focus slightly.
"Can you hear me?" Kix asked carefully, staring right back down. No reaction.
"I'm Kix," he pressed on, saw a bit more focus in those eyes again. He reached for one of the cables – the big one on the head. "I'm going to disconnect this, okay?"
No answer. Well, it probably couldn't make things worse… right? With a deep breath, the medic pulled the cord and winced as the clone yelled and shot up, pulling on more lines connected across his back and down his spine.
"Easy, easy, it's okay," Kix was quick to put his hands on the man's shoulders, trying to steady him. Suddenly, he heard words. Mutterings really, but it made sense to him.
"CT-1409… CT-1409… CT-1409…" he kept on repeating, eyes going in and out of focus.
"CT-1409? That's-!" Kix's eyes opened wide. He knew that number. He's heard about it – read the file. It was impossible. Had to be.
"Echo?" he whispered, carefully. In an instant, the head snapped to him, eyes blank but wide and he pulled back in fear.
"Our only chance… Stop him…" the voice was weak but slowly gaining volume. The eyes remained staring into nothing. "Shuttle… The shuttle…" and then they zeroed in on the medic and the clone yelled: "FIVES!"
"So… H-How are you?" Hardcase asked, looking down at the cot, avoiding the other man's gaze.
"Legs're a bit busted up…" Jesse admitted, glaring at his limbs. "Nothin' I can't handle though."
"What happened?" they hadn't really told him how they came to be so banged up. Not really. Just mentioned the crash. The rest, they said, could wait until he was feeling better.
"Same crash that caught you-"
"How did we crash?"
"Hardcase, please."
"How?"
A moment of silence. The hyper soldier was looking up, but his brother kept his gaze firmly locked onto the ground.
"Is Kix-?"
"Back at base… Probably worried sick," Jesse gave a weak chuckle but was unable to cover the worry in his eyes. "He's so gonna kick our shebs when we get back."
Hardcase gave a soft huff of a laugh, a weak grin on his face. "Rather that than the alternative, yeah?"
"For sure."
Then some commotion on the other side of the screen caught their attention. The two shared a look, before the curtain was pulled back and one of the 112th was standing there, a datapad in his hand.
"Something wrong?" Jesse was the first to ask, half ready to move and fight.
"Not sure yet," the soldier was uneasy, glancing from the pad to the bedridden clone. "There was a strange scan that came up during your operation."
"Well if it's my head that's fine, was just grown that way!" Hardcase joked, but no one laughed. His brother even gave him a slight frown, so he awkwardly coughed.
"It really isn't my place of expertise, 9112 is the one who knows best, but he's out as a light so he's unavailable-"
"It's okay, just, say what's wrong," Jesse put up his hand, stopping the rambling of the anxious medic.
The 112th brother took a deep breath and read off the pad: "Apparently, there was something in your brain. Some… alien tech or something? It's hard to say for sure… It, got damaged in the crash – or more during your concussion. It might be what caused the memory loss, though unlikely. We're not sure exactly that its function is but…" he trailed off, unsure. "But if we hadn't needed to operate on you like that, we probably wouldn't have found it."
He shook in his restraints, body convulsing and shaking from the pain and shocks. Another memory, more information stolen and taken. He's lost count how many they've scanned, but it felt like a lot.
"Useless…" he caught one mutter.
With barely open eyes, Rex looked up and caught the recording playing. It was him and other clones relaxing on the Resolute. How does that thing even work? How does it pick memories? Do they see it all? Just a few? There were so many questions and he was feeling too tired to keep conscious to consider them. His head hurt the most and he felt like his brain was turning to mush – it was hard to even keep thoughts in line.
The Umbarans were talking among themselves, pointing at the recordings and then at him, a few times even apparently yelling something. He couldn't properly tell. He was so tired. Just wanted to sleep – pass out. Just for a minute.
As he closed his eyes again, he felt a shock from the baton and regained himself with a hiss and gritted teeth.
"No rest for you!" the one that loved to use the toy growled and then reached up for the device on his head.
Try as he might, Rex couldn't move away and braced himself for the shock that was to come. This time, he managed to keep his pain inside, not reacting more than a pained grunt. The memory – it was one of his early war ones. On Christophsis. When he met Ahsoka-
He heard the Umbarans talking, apparently interested. He tried, he really did, to change the memory, to make it different, to shut it off. Anything. But nothing worked.
"So, if you're a Captain and I'm a Jedi, then technically I outrank you, right?" she had sounded so confident then, fresh out of the Temple. Arrogant and cocky, they all thought, just a Jedi who already saw herself as better than them.
"In my book, experience outranks everything." He told her the truth, hoping to keep the slight annoyance out of his voice. Getting disrespected and walked over by a child was not something he wanted. Not in the middle of a warzone.
"Well if experience outranks everything, I guess I better start getting some." That had surprised him. She seemed eager, but also… understanding. Realizing she wasn't the one who knew what's what in this war. Knew she had to learn before they started treating her like a superior. There was hope for her yet.
He gasped at that, feeling a new kind of pain. Ahsoka. Their little sister. She was out there, somewhere, probably in danger. Or worse, she came looking for them. She doesn't know about Krell. She'll walk right into his trap, get killed-
Another shock and he screamed from the pain and surprise. He couldn't even tell if that was from the circlet or baton, but it hurt all the same. The Umbarans seemed more interested now, apparently having found some sort of information they wanted. So he was ready when he was pushed back into his memories – ready, but unable to stop himself.
'Ahsoka… Ahsoka, please, please stay away' Rex thought to himself, almost keeping it like a mantra. Some part of his mind yelled that he was being ridiculous, but he didn't have anything else to do. He had no other way to try and warn her.
This high up, Umbara had a strange beauty to it. Everything was covered in a sort of mist, and the lights from different places were muted, giving it an almost haunted feeling. But it was also quite stunning to behold – certainly new for her.
Ahsoka stayed on the flying creature, trying to see any area she could land without being spotted or if she caught sight of any of the clones. No such luck. There were faint signatures all around, but none she could focus on – the Force felt muffled here. Hard to concentrate. And the constant movement of the creature wasn't doing her any favours.
"Hey now, mind going more-," she didn't get to finish, as suddenly, a sense of fear and worry came to her. It was so strong and familiar – and it was directed at her. She couldn't tell from whom however and the shock made her lose her grip on the creature. Finally sensing it could be free of her, it turned and twisted, sending her fall down.
Still, in a strange place with her senses focused on that, she barely managed to regain herself enough to turn around and try to find an area to land. There were large trees nearby and she pushed there, only for the branches to snap as she grabbed on. She fell, tried again, it slipped and she crashed through a different one. Gritting her teeth, she focused and used the broken piece to shove off and towards the trunk, able to catch herself on a thick and large branch. Wincing, Ahsoka sat down and caught her breath, trying to grasp at the feeling from before, but it was gone.
"Someone's worried about me…" she whispered, looking up. For someone to be that concerned… it must be bad. Really bad.
Sighing, she stood up and dusted herself off. "I need to find more people…" and thought back to the meeting. To the talk of plans and locations. Wasn't there supposed to be another encampment further away from where Anakin was? The… 112? Yes, Master Krell was supposed to be there.
At that thought, she recalled the way the Jedi Master had jumped into the fray back at base. He had bought them time to escape… And she hoped he was still alive. His men should be able to help, however. Ahsoka wasn't really sure why he left them behind, but it didn't matter at this moment. She just had to get there and tell them what happened.
With her mind made up, the Padawan looked around. Trying to navigate this place was going to be hard, but if she stayed higher up, it should offer a better view of everything. The 112th was supposed to be westward from here. With a sigh, Ahsoka jumped up the tree and tried to figure out where she even was, and after, where to go.
"So, what's our plan of action?" Appo asked, accepting the ration bar as he sat on one of the many tree roots.
"We need to find what happened. See who's still alive." Cody let out a long sigh, running a hand over his face. "What did happen?" he asked more softly, turning towards the Sergeant.
"I'm… not really sure, sir." He began, looking down. "The Umbarans breached our defences… ambushed us. They came from everywhere, all at once… We- We barely had time to even think about what to do…" he paused, swallowed, his shoulders slumping. "We were… utterly unprepared for such an attack…"
"They were capturing some of us…" Kano supplied, staring off into nothingness. "Killing mostly, but… we saw some of them being dragged off. Who knows what for, but…" he swallowed, shaking his head lightly. "I think death'd be preferable to whatever's happening to them now…"
"And Rex? Where's he?" Cody pressed, a hint of worry in his voice.
The 501st men shared a look before the Sergeant shook his head. "General Krell," he started, taking a deep breath. "General Krell said he was dead… We- We didn't get a chance to check. Had to run… Commander Tano helped us. We were, still catching her up on all that happened when we got ambushed."
A moment of silence before the sound of durasteel hitting tree as Commander Cody slammed his fist into the bark. A low growl was crawling out of his throat that most soldiers would've unleashed but he kept it down, eyes narrowed in anger.
"I'll make them pay. Every single one of them." He swore and every clone was slightly surprised by that. Cody was usually the one who kept his cool, remained calm and collect. To see him react in such a way…
"Orders, sir?" Trapper asked, watching him.
A moment of thought before the Commander turned to Jetstream, who was still working on the transmitter. "Who's the nearest battalion to here?"
"That would be…" a moment as he adjusted the frequency. "Oh…" and he swallowed hard.
"Who is it?" the 212th leader asked, a tone of confusion in his voice.
"The 112th, sir…" Jetstream looked up. "They have no comms we could reach. Unless we get a communicator in their camp and have it connect, the only way we'll find them is by guessing where they are."
"Where are you going?" Reeve half demanded, grabbing him by the arm.
"To save my brothers!" Fives shook him off, walking away again.
"By yourself? That's idiotic!" the Captain stepped in his path, staring at him.
"It's better than sitting here, doing nothing! My brothers are in danger!"
"And you're still hurt!"
"So what?"
"What, do you plan to just walk there? Do you even know where you need to head?"
The ARC opened his mouth to speak, but words failed him and he closed it with an angry grumble.
"Thought so," Reeve sighed, running a hand over his face. "I understand this isn't easy, but you can't do anything for them. Not now. Not as you are."
"But I can't just, stand by and let it happen!"
"There's nothing you can do!"
A small group had gathered around them now, listening to their Captain arguing with a new brother none of them had seen.
Fives gave him a defiant look and said in a low voice, just as determined: "Unlike you, I'd do anything I can to help my brothers, even at my own life." And with that, he pushed past the stunned Captain, making his way back to his brothers.
Reeve just stood there, eyes wide, shaking, just a bit. The ARC's words cut deeper than he thought possible, and he dared not to blink, lest he see their faces again.
"You'll never be captain if you never do anything Ree!"
"C'mon, don't be scared, it's just some droids! We've faced worse."
"You have to do something! Anything!"
"C-Captain- H-Help … me…"
"Sir, what should we do?"
"Sir?"
"Orders sir!"
"Sir?"
It took him too long to realize the last voice wasn't from the past, but one of his current brothers checking in on him. Eyes full of worry, Reeve had to look away.
"You're wrong!" he shouted, turning and seeing the 501st soldier pause a good several meters already away from him. "I do all I can for my brothers! You think you can do better?" at that, Fives turned to face him, expression still determined. But the Captain didn't' stop.
"You think it's easy? That I wouldn't rather die to save my brothers?" he took a step closer, eyes stinging with unshed tears. "That if there was a way, I'd do what I can and find it? YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"
The whole camp stopped by now, looking at what was happening. The ARC's eyes widened slightly, but he turned fully to the angered clone, looking him dead in the eyes.
"There's always, a better way. No matter what." And his eyes took on a hint of pity. "I'm just sorry you never bothered looking for a better one."
That seemed to break something in the Captain, as with an enraged snarl, he rushed to the ARC and tackled him to the ground. Yells and shouts erupted from the others, but the two went tumbling and rolling down the ground, one trying to get the other off, one wanting to strike at the other.
"You know nothing of what we've had to deal with! With how much we've suffered!" Reeve delivered an elbow to the ARC's head.
Fives grabbed his arm on the next strike, shoving it out of the way and head-butting the man, sending him staggering off. Before he could properly regain himself however, the Captain was trying to punch him again.
"All the things we've had to sacrifice! All the brothers we lost, not to the enemy, but to Krell! All the brothers we mourned who didn't even have a name!"
Finally, a punch connected and Fives staggered back, holding his jaw. Reeve came at him again, but this time, before he could strike, three soldiers of his own battalion came and held him back.
"Sir! Sir please, stop this!"
"LET ME GO! I won't let his insults stand! I won't let him disrespect our suffering!"
A few seconds of struggling, a crowd gathered and the ARC was panting, holding his bruised jaw. He could see the Captain's tears, angry and anguished as they fell, his struggle slowly fading as his own brothers held him.
"What are we to do against a Jedi?" he called out, looking at the 501st soldier. "What are we against a being who controls such a force? TELL ME! TELL ME OF WHAT YOU WOULD DO IN MY STEAD!"
Heavy breathing and sobs were the only sound in the air, even as more clones came to check what was happening. Among them, Jesse and Hardcase, being helped by medics.
"What do you do- against an opponent who strips you of all you are," Reeve looked up at the ARC, despair and sorrow etched into his very soul. "What do you do… against someone who sees you as nothing more than a tool… As less than an actual living creature… Someone who holds all your brothers' lives in his hands…" and his head dropped, tears falling freely. "What more could I do… What else can I do…"
Silence, again, until Fives took a step closer, carefully setting a hand on the Captain's shoulder. Looking up, Reeve saw the man's expression pained and grieving.
"I'm sorry, for reacting like that…" the ARC admitted. "I just- I've lost too many brothers simply because I couldn't do anything… so I swore never again." he dropped to his knees in front of the Captain, and the 112th released their leader, setting him carefully down next to the soldier. "I can't bear the thought of someone else living in inaction… especially at the cost of fellow brothers' lives…" Fives kept up, unaware his own two brothers were listening intently. "And in that, I failed to really see your options. I'm sorry…"
Reeve gave a bitter laugh, half-choked as he looked up again. "It won't matter… nothing we do against Krell matters… He'll be back. And when he does…"
"He won't," Jesse spoke this time, getting attention to himself. The look of shock on the Captain's face made him slowly take a step closer, trying not to wince. "We'll make sure of that."
"What are you-?"
"…Accidents happen…" Fives whispered to no one in particular. "Maybe the Umbarans got to him…" and glanced at the other leader.
"You're mad…"
"It's an option. A way. Are you willing to throw it away just because it might be mad?" the ARC challenged.
A soft murmur went through the 112th with their Captain staring at Fives, eyes wide. His breathing was evening, but even so, they could see the fear mounting in his eyes.
"What do you say?" Fives called out, looking from Reeve to his men. "Continue to live like that, or do something about it?"
"But… if – if it was to be found out…?"
"I gave the order," Reeve said, looking at the ground. "If anyone finds out… I gave you the order. I'm the one who shall suffer for the consequences."
"Sir-!"
"You can't be serious!"
"No, no you can't-!"
"Enough!" and the Captain stood up, looking out at his brothers. "Nothing they could do to me is worse than Krell already has. If that's what it takes to free you- us all of him…" and he looked down at Fives, slowly getting to his feet as well. "Then it's the best possible way for me to help," and offered a grateful smile.
It took a moment, but soft cheers began among the soldiers. A few even clapped. Most were worried, but this… This gave them new hope. And nothing is more powerful, than hope to a man who is willing to risk it all.
The doors to the cells opened, followed by angered yells and shouts, by people being pushed and shoved. The captured soldiers stood and watched as the clones from the hanger were shoved inside. And behind them, Krell.
"Get this one first," the Jedi growled, shoving Scar down on his knees, hands holding tightly on the medic's shoulder. "I want to hear him scream."
"Haran hiibir gar Demogolka!" Scar hissed, eyes burning with hate as he twisted around to scowl at the Baselisk.
"Scar, stop it!" Fixer called as he and the rest of the medics were shoved into a nearby cell. Those who weren't too badly wounded got a different one, a few even being pushed into already occupied cells.
"Keep your petty threats, clone," Krell hissed as he leaned down to the medic's ear. Scar tried to speak again, but a collar was clamped around his neck and Pong released him, letting the clone fall on his hands already tugging on the item.
"Do it," the Jedi said staring down with disgust.
Two Umbarans walked up and held the medic down, while another one walked behind him, holding that same box in hand.
"No! NO, stop it!" the others yelled, knowing what was to come. Scar still kept trying to resist, even when the compartment on his collar was opened.
"You'll never win!" he growled out. "Gar won't shukur mhi!"
Krell gave a smirk when the insect was inserted and the collar closed. "We'll see about that."
And a moment later, Scar started screaming. It was a heart-piercing shriek of pain as his spine straightened and his eyes grew wide. Despite being held down, he still tried to reach back and claw at the collar.
"GET IT OUT!" he shrieked, unable to keep himself silent. "GET IT OUT GET IT OUT!" he continued his screeches echoing in the underground room.
The rest of the brothers stared in horror, a few even having to avert their gaze. Most other's yells were unheard over their brother's suffering, try as they did to break the field keeping them down.
It seemed to last hours, but it could hardly have been more than a handful of seconds. When the screaming finally stopped, Scar slumped forward, eyes still wide but unseeing, mouth open in a silent scream. No one dared to breathe of speak.
"Is it dead?" Krell asked, voice uncaring as he used a foot to poke to solider. "Shame."
"MONSTER!" Dogma yelled at him, shaking and quivering. "You're a monster!"
Pong gave him an unsympathetic look, stepping over the unmoving body which the Umbarans were quick to move. He stopped only when he was standing next to the cell. Jigsaw stood up as well, staring at the Baselisk in defiance while Tup curled a bit more into himself, Kite trying to comfort him and Griff standing protectively in front of them.
"The only monster," Krell spoke, voice stoic but quacking in silent anger and hate. "Are you freaks. I am making the galaxy a better place and the only way to accomplish that, is to destroy you," he hissed, eyes almost glowing as he stared down at the clones.
It took a moment, but soft cheers began among the soldiers. A few even clapped. Most were worried, but this… This gave them new hope. And nothing is more powerful, than hope to a man who is willing to risk it all.
Translations:
Haran hiibir gar Demogolka! - Hell take you Demogolka
Demogolka - someone who commits atrocities, a real-life monster, a war criminal - from the notorious Mandalorian scientist of the Old Republic, Demagol, known for his experiments on children, and a figure of hate and dread in the Mando psyche
Gar won't shukur mhi! - You won't break us
And cut! And with that, I take my leave for now! This chapter was probably a bit longer than my recent ones, but I got a lot of things to actually do now, since I realized I've been stalling with... Anything happening. Mostly just, talking and whatnot. So, good chance the next one is gonna be long(ish) as well.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading! Consider reviewing if you wanna scream
Till next time~