Chapter 27
…
Appo broke into a jog when he saw Singer. It was getting dark, but the camp was organized and settled in, and the careful angles of the lieutenant's body language made even his silhouette recognizable to Appo as long as it was in motion. He was standing and talking—too quietly for Appo to hear at first—in the midst of so many brothers lying and sitting down to sleep, propped on rocks or with heads resting on one another's stomachs and laps and shoulders. The voices around them were bright, weary but steady. No anger or shaking whispers, even though the remaining wounded were laid out in rows nearby.
"Singer!" Appo called.
"Sir!" Singer straightened and turned away from the trooper he was talking to.
"Still no sign of Jesse?"
"No, sir," Singer sighed. "And Rabbit is also out of contact."
"Jesse won't answer me either," said the other trooper. "I've tried eight times in the last five minutes."
Appo turned as he came to a halt and realized who the other trooper was. In the twilight, Kix's eyes looked a little unfocused; probably exhausted, as they all were.
"It isn't like him to turn off his comm," Kix said under his breath and rubbed his neck with the hand that wasn't holding his helmet. "Especially on duty…."
Singer shook his head. "Not even Rabbit does that, normally."
"What about Avenger?" Appo asked Kix. Nothing but bad news, he was sure, but best to get it over with. "Did you find him?"
"Dead asleep by Levi." Kix blew a short breath. "Although, he nearly punched me when I checked his vitals. So I guess he's just fine."
"So he has an excuse for not responding," Appo muttered nervously. "But we have at least two missing men. You're sure they checked in about two, three hours ago?"
"Absolutely," said Singer, his voice getting softer with worry. "Rabbit checked in with both meand Lieutenant Fits." Singer's hand paused mid-gesture and he looked up into space. "Hmm. Now that I think of it…that's a little unusual."
"He was helping me with the wounded until I… snapped at him and he left." Kix crossed his arms tightly. "Jesse, I mean."
Appo looked at Kix and wondered how many smudges of other clones' blood was mixed in with the armor's camo paint. "Didn't say where he was going?" He'd already asked—it was a pointless question.
"No, sir." Kix shook his head at the ground, fingers tapping faintly on his upper arm plate. "I told him to go get some rest. I thought that was where he went."
Appo stood evenly on both feet for a moment, the warm night vibrating slightly around him and under his boots as the indistinct murmurs of relieved and exhausted brothers drifted back and forth. Another decision. More numbers to add to the casualty list. More fear and uncertainty in every surviving trooper—for good reason.
"We can't send anyone after them." Appo made his voice sound confident, made himself look them in the eyes. He couldn't slip now. "We don't even know which way they went."
"He didn't leave any sort of message," Kix said, a tired murmur. The medic shifted and rubbed at his eyes and forehead with one hand.
Appo noticed Singer looking at him, then at Kix, then back again. Maybe it didn't mean anything. Singer was a naturally receptive clone. But maybe he was considering whose priorities to side with.
"We'll search the camp again. It could be nothing," Appo thought aloud. "Just a fluke malfunction in the comms. Or they could be asleep somewhere like Avenger. In the worst case… it could also be a sign that something is going on here." Think, Appo commanded himself—distracted by trying to read Kix and Singer's body language.
Commander Cody's idea about signal jamming came back to mind, but the fleet was still in contact as were some of the other commanders, klicks and klicks away… farther from them than the Jedi should have been. Certainly farther than Jesse or Rabbit should be.
The lieutenant shifted to put a hand on Kix's shoulder. "I'll get everyone in the platoon to search if they can."
Kix jerked a little on contact. "I've got to get back to the wounded…."
A light flashed on Appo's comm and he steeled himself for another crisis, another question about who was going to lead whom now that so many of their officers were wounded or dead. It had been almost fifteen minutes since the last comm signal, a new record of silence from the troops.
"Appo here."
"It's Wit, Commander, We've spotted two troopers headed toward the camp. They aren't scouts. I'm at my post by walker four."
"On my way," said Appo, relieved it was something he had no doubt how to answer. "Don't act as if their approach is anything out of the ordinary, unless they're wounded or turn out to be hostiles.I'll speak with them."
"Yes, sir. I'll uh, inform the others."
"I'll come too, sir," said Kix.
"No." Be firm, he told himself. "Pass your duties on to the next rested medic and sleep for at least four hours. The reports can wait."
"Sir," Kix said in that faint laugh that meant he was about to insist he was fine. "I can check on a couple of men without—"
"It's not up for discussion; I'll inform you if they need medical attention." Appo said, and turned away immediately so he wouldn't have to argue. He didn't want Kix or Singer following him—the medic was too much of an influence on everyone, and as helpful as Singer always was, Appo couldn't rely on that.
He couldn't delegate everything. He couldn't pass on the responsibility for this failure to anyone else. He might have lost two more men for no good reason, and that list was getting longer every day.
When Appo broke through the deep darkness between walkers four and five at the outer edge of the ring of walkers encircling the camp, Jesse and Rabbit were just being helped up over the edge of the mesa by a small group of troopers standing guard. As soon as Appo stopped to stand squarely a few meters ahead of them, Rabbit thumped Jesse on the arm and Jesse's head snapped up. Both troopers stopped immediately to face him.
"I've got this station covered," Appo announced to the men on watch. "Spread out. Jesse. Rabbit. We need to talk."
"Yes, sir!"
He saw Jesse and Rabbit stiffen further, but he waited until the other men were far enough away before he took some heavy steps forward.
"Hold out your right arms."
Jesse and Rabbit looked at each other, unreadable in their helmets, and held out their right arms. Appo pressed the power switch on their wrist comms, and lifted his own up to his mouth.
"Are you hearing me now?" he growled, and his voice came back at him from the two comms.
"Yes, sir," said Rabbit. Jesse let his arm drop with a defeated sigh.
Appo took off his helmet, trying to focus on Rabbit, the younger of the two. Trying not think about how Jesse had been in the 501st since its inception. How could a senior member of the battalion be so irresponsible?
"Look at me. Helmets off."
Jesse and Rabbit obeyed, both of them with sheepish grins that were almost grimaces.
"Explain yourselves!" he barked, his tension building at the sight of their faces. How dare they try to laugh this off when their brothers were worried about them? When so many others were dying or dead?
"We went to hunt for dropped sensors," said Jesse.
"We were thinkin' another sneak attack might happen if we didn't, sir," said Rabbit. "I don't know that our battalion would survive that."
"And it was necessary to turn off your comms for this? Let us all think you were dead? Did you really think we wouldn't notice you were gone? And don't insult me by trying to tell me it was an accident. There's nothing wrong with your communicators."
"We did shut them off deliberately, sir," Jesse said quietly, shoulders hunched a bit. "We…." He glanced at Rabbit, who grimaced and shook his head.
"You what?"
"We… well, sir," Jesse said uncomfortably, not looking at him. "We thought, in the interests of stealth—"
"Why didn't you run this plan by me first? Jesse, this is the second time you've deliberately gone against orders! You might have consulted me!"
Jesse's shoulders hunched even more—but he looked more nervous than angry.
"I have given both of you, all of you the freedom to make suggestions during battle!" Appo looked between them, hating to think what they saw when they looked at him. "I recognized that your plan worked, even though I didn't approve of it!"
"Yes sir. And I appreciate that," Jesse said earnestly, with an edge of nervous laughter. "Really, I do. But we, we knew you were busy and—"
"This isn't about me being busy!" Appo shifted his helmet under one arm, clenching his fists. He always, always answered his comm. It was a struggle; he was exhausted to the point of dizziness, but he wasn't going to let the men down on account of that. What kind of commander would he be? "It's not even about asking permission—it's about keeping me informed and following orders! Keeping each other SAFE!"
Rabbit opened his mouth, but Appo hurried to cut him off.
"Even Singer didn't know where you were!" he dropped his voice to a tight whisper as he heard footsteps nearby, realizing he was starting to yell. "I expected better of both of you, even after what happened with Avenger, but especially you, Jesse. Your battalion needs you to stay alive." He stepped toward Jesse, wanting to shake him. "I need you to stop hiding things from me."
"Sir." Jesse wilted and raised his hands. "None of us are intentionally—"
The footsteps again. Appo turned and saw another trooper, out of armor, standing just on the edge of the darkness beneath the walkers and smiling. He didn't dare to hope that smile meant good news.
"Sorry to interrupt. I can come back later."
"No," Appo said as he faced him, trying to bring his voice back from desperation. "It's fine." He tossed a look back at Jesse and Rabbit. "You're dismissed. Go get some sleep."
Jesse and Rabbit murmured their "yes sir"s and hurried away. Appo wondered if he would ever be able to talk to the men. There were walls in front of so many of them when he approached. Singer was one of the only exceptions.
"So," the trooper said, moments after Appo realized it was Commander Cody. "Still no word from the generals. The fleet can't get to them either. I'll be moving out before dawn."
"Where's your armor?" Appo looked over Cody's dark, lightweight gear: chestplate, hat, rangefinder, belt and goggles. Thoughts intruded of how Cody had questioned his confidence the last time they'd spoken. Cody didn't seem put off by that exchange. He's a professional.
"Too noticeable," said Cody. "Besides, it was a relief to change out." The stench of the last few days clung to Appo's armor too, but he was almost numb to it at this point. "I brought down a few of these suits with the med ships, and we can wear ponchos over them to make our outlines look more civilian. There's a couple in walker three. That's why I came this way."
Appo took a deep breath and let it out. So this was really happening. Less than five engagements after his promotion and it came to this. But Cody had the experience to back up his words, and Appo couldn't ignore that.
"I need an hour or so to make sure everything's in place with my battalion. We're sticking to the same plan as before?"
"Yep. Let's hope it works." Cody sounded cheerful, and Appo pressed his lips together. Did Cody's confidence come from his long record of command, or was it something essential to his personality?
"Yeah," Appo muttered and turned wearily to walk back to camp, massaging the base of his own skull. "I'll be ready to depart before oh two hundred hours, unless disaster strikes."
"See you then," Cody said, and Appo lengthened his stride a bit, just in case Cody decided to bring up the conversation he'd just overheard.
"Wit, return to your post. Kix," Appo said to the comm. "Jesse and Rabbit are alright. They went to hunt for dropped sensors."
An unmistakable sigh of relief. "Thank you, sir. I'll rest easy now. Right after I punch Jesse in the face."
"I wouldn't advise adding to the injured," Appo muttered.
"No, sir." Kix's voice was hard to hear. "It was a bad joke."
Of course it was a joke. Appo didn't know why he'd even bothered to say such a pedantic thing.
"Appo out. Singer, come in."
"Did you find them, sir?"
"They're back in the camp with comms on. Have Jesse report to you right away. He and Rabbit apparently have information about where the enemy dropped sensors nearby."
"Will do, sir."
"I'm handing temporary command to Bow. I'll be available by comm for the next two hours, but you and the other officers should try to collaborate with the officers of the Two-Twelfth and come up with a plan for if Commander Cody and I don't make it back."
"Yes, sir. Don't worry about us. Respectfully, I'd like to suggest you get some rest before you head out, sir. Once you hand over command, Bow and the other captains can answer any questions the men have."
"Your suggestion is noted," Appo said, a phrase he'd had to practice so often lately that it now came out whenever he didn't know what to say.
A brief silence. Then, "Thank you for taking a risk for the rest of us, sir. I hope you and Commander Cody find the generals."
"Thank you, Singer," Appo said, unsettled at the thought that Singer might have taken his response as a dismissal. "I appreciate… I appreciate it."
"Good luck, sir."
Appo held in a sigh. "You too, Lieutenant."
It only took a few minutes to find Bow, and pass on his reports, maps and strategy notes. Bow simply nodded and said, "Very good, sir," to everything.
"Well then," Appo said. "It's not complete, and you'll have to collaborate with Kix and the other medics on filling out the rest of the duty roster. I'll leave you to set up the strategy meeting with the other officers."
"Yes, sir. Very good. I will comm them immediately."
And he did. Appo stepped away, leaving him to methodically pass on the orders. For a few moments, as he walked, he considered going to the strategy meeting or checking the casualty report with Kix for the hundredth time, instead of heeding Singer's advice. But if he was really going to do this, he had to rest. Focusing was already difficult.
Alright. He would go find some water to carry, and report that so that Cody could load up on other supplies instead. Then he would sleep for an hour or so. All around him the camp was going quieter by the minute, tired bodies going still all over the ground, leaning on one another. Appo caught himself scanning the crowd for Bleak, remembering the time before Umbara, and their close-knit squad. They'd served together for months before that mission, the same troopers, surviving battle after battle.
All but Bleak were gone. Appo hadn't had more than a few-seconds-long conversation with Bleak since his reassignment and he didn't want to interrupt his integration into a new unit by singling him out. He wasn't supposed to give special attention to any one trooper anyway, was he?
Still, it had been a long time since Appo had laughed at anything, or spent a night talking brother-to-brother before falling asleep. Nods and cursory greetings of "Commander" met him as he filled a pack with water at walker seven, and he nodded back professionally. Then he wandered back into the deep shadow between walker seven and eight, wanting to be out of sight but still in earshot of the others who were hydrating themselves.
He didn't get to hear much of what they said. The mere sound of their voices faded into sleep almost as soon as he sat down and laid his head back against the walker's metal leg.
…
"Appo, it's Cody. Ready to move out, Commander?"
It took more than one try to open his eyes. "Ready," Appo said, before he was even fully awake.
"I'm on the east side of camp."
"Copy that." Appo pushed himself to his feet, shook his arms and legs to try and get the blood flowing, and realized he hadn't changed into the gear Cody had recommended. "I'll be there in fifteen."
Nearly all the men were asleep now. Appo ran through the middle of camp as softly as he could. The quiet night felt like another presence hanging over them in the warm black sky.
It was a relief to change out of armor. Appo stowed it all in walker two, feeling lighter and more vulnerable with his limbs so free. Cody waited, chatting with one of his troops when Appo approached. The medic split off as soon as he saw Appo, and Cody waited for him before turning toward the edge of the mesa.
"Since our Jedi won't be needing them." Cody held out a poncho, similar to the one he was already wearing, and Appo took it with a surprised noise.
"This is General Skywalker's?"
"I guess they came up with some better disguises this time."
Appo sighed. He wasn't sure Skywalker would approve, but there was nothing to be done about that now. Appo pulled the poncho over his head, feeling a bit like an imposter and wondering if Rex had ever worn it. Cody certainly seemed at home in his.
They didn't speak to each other as they climbed the side of the caldera. Nearly an hour passed that way, just trudging and puffing with the dull clatter of rocks sliding under them in the dark, jumping when they thought they heard the hushed descent of an avian scavenger. Appo knew the plan only in outline. They couldn't do as the Generals had done—they didn't have days to travel the main road disguised as civilians, didn't have the Force to mind-trick guards at each checkpoint or quietly deactivate tactical droids. They would have to commandeer a civilian or separatist transport to get in.
He watched Cody climb ahead, no hint of hesitation in his movements. He's been on missions like this before, Appo told himself. Surely he had a separate plan for every possible contingency, but was sparing Appo the details. And every time Appo fell slightly behind and looked up at the Commander's silhouette against the rocks in the dark, he caught himself falling back into the easier role of a lower officer following his commander.
We're the same rank, Appo reminded himself. But if he asked for clarification, it might seem combative. They'd already clashed once—Appo didn't want that to become a pattern.
As they came to the edge, a flurry of leathery wings interrupted the silence. It burst up from inside the caldera—Appo fired before he even saw it, his finger squeezing the trigger before his conscious mind even completed the thought. He fired again and again, unable to see more than a scattered blackness covering the stars and just waiting for the earsplitting roar he'd heard in the jungle. It wouldn't take full shape—his eyes wouldn't focus—
"Whoa, what are you doing?!" Cody was beside him, pushing down his rifle. "Stop, stop it! You'll alert the enemy!"
Appo stopped, panting.
"They're probably just bats," Cody whispered, as the chaos of wings dispersed. "Look, they're too small to really get us."
It wasn't the monsters from the jungle. As Appo stared, the disjointed beast of his imagination dissolved—each bit of blackness really was a separate animal.
"Look at them." Appo breathlessly pointed toward the silhouettes against the larger of Saleucami's moons that had just risen. "They're fanning out. Real regular spaces between them…."
"Maybe it's just how they hunt," said Cody; his voice was so calm.
And I panicked, Appo chastised himself, but jumped again at a clatter on the rocks nearby.
"Eh." Cody turned. "I think you hit one."
Appo hurried toward the sound, and heard Cody following. It did look like a bat, though its body was the size of a large tooka. It scurried awkwardly away from them, climbing back across the rocks toward the rim of the caldera, despite its smoking wing. The smell of burning flesh and hair was awful. An unnatural clack-clack came from beneath it.
"What's that?" Appo gestured toward the noise, leaning down to get a look at the creature's belly, and Cody reached for it with the end of his rifle. It hissed and beat its wings wildly, revealing a black box strapped around its middle.
"I'll bet this is how the separatists are dropping those sensors." Cody backed away quickly. "Let's hope it hasn't already reported our position."
"It hasn't released anything that looks like the sensors we've found yet," Appo whispered, scanning the ground. "Should I kill it?" he asked, before remembering again that he was a commander too.
"No… it might be transmitting vitals and position back to whoever sent it out. Let's leave it alone and get some distance before we go down. Inform Bow, he can pass it along to Ricky and the other captains."
Cody motioned Appo to follow him west along the edge of the caldera's rim, stopping occasionally to look down inside and mark their position. The way in looked harder to Appo from this direction, but Cody seemed confident.
"Bow, come in," Appo whispered into his comm.
"Here, sir."
"It looks like the enemy is using some sort of bat-like creatures to drop the sensors. We just found one with a box strapped onto it. Pass the news along to Ricky, maybe you can figure out a way to keep those things away from the camp."
"How big are they, sir? Like the birds in the jungle?"
"No, these are smaller. Wingspan is about a meter, maybe one and a half."
"Very good. I'll spread the word. Thank you sir."
Appo signed off and kept up the hike along the caldera's edge, wondering why Cody hadn't informed Ricky himself. The Commander glanced down the cliffs every few meters, probably looking for a more ideal spot to climb down. Appo held in the thought that the way was getting rougher the further they went in this direction.
Twenty minutes later, Cody said, "I left orders with my men to scout around and eliminate any sensors they found."
"Bow will be giving similar orders to the Five Oh First troops now."
"Maybe it'll keep the restless ones busy," Cody added.
Appo nodded half to himself, wondering what he was going to do with Avenger. The trooper was a liability, but he didn't like the idea of telling Skywalker about it.
Fifty steps later, Cody spoke again. "I've known Jesse for a while. Rex always liked him."
"I know," Appo tried in vain to read anything he could from Cody's posture in the dark. "He's a good soldier."
"Has that changed recently?"
Appo looked down into the caldera again, his face heating a bit. Was Cody actually paying attention to where they were going? "Are there even any aircraft down there for us to steal?" he muttered.
"They're probably just… feeling unsure," Cody said.
Appo watched him stop by a pair of heavy boulders and shoot his rifle's cable line onto one of them. He silently moved to follow suit, waiting for Cody to get the hint and stop talking.
But the commander went on. "Maybe they just need to know that you trust them too. Whatever they were doing, I doubt it was intended to undermine your command."
"Commander." Appo shot and tested his own line, careful to keep his voice respectful and light. "I can deal with my own battalion. Let's just focus on this mission for now."
"Fair enough. I'm not sure how familiar you are with some of the men. I've fought with many of them over the last three years." Cody walked backward over the edge.
"So have I, over the last two." Appo followed him down. "I doubt a year makes that much difference. I'm not punishing them for anyth—" he grunted as his foot slipped on the cliff side. "Anything." Appo regained his footing quickly, muscles trembling from the adrenaline that had spiked his nerves in anticipation of a long fall. He wished Cody would stop distracting him. He wished he wasn't so easy to distract.
"They left camp without telling anyone where they were going?"
"To hunt enemy sensors," Appo said abruptly. "I fail to see why you need to know that, but if I'm setting an example of clear communication…."
"Well, if you'd like some advice—"
"Not really."
"—you want to give them something to…." Cody stopped. "Alright."
"No offense." Appo only realized he was clenching his teeth because his jaw hurt. He wasn't afraid of heights, so what was going on? I'm angry, he realized. "I think we'd both better focus on the descent."
Cody said nothing to that, and Appo took the lead going down, his mind racing to decide whether he'd overstepped himself. As a sergeant his response would have been disrespectful. But every experience he'd had since his promotion told him to defend his rank. The less Cody knew about the mess Appo was trying to clean up, the better. Appo remembered the way Admiral Tarkin had chastised them all in front of the general. For the hundredth time he wondered how Rex could have made such a mistake after being the only voice of reason on Umbara. The thought of how easily even a great leader could slip made Appo suddenly aware of his own clammy sweat.
He focused on his breathing and his footing, walking backward down the rock face in the dark, the cord humming as it unraveled through the attachment on his rifle. At any moment a blaster bolt could come out of nowhere and that would be it.
They reached more manageable climbing before their length of cord ran out, but kept attached for a meter or so before taking off the rifle attachments.
This is a mistake. He hesitated to let go of the cable even as Cody climbed down and away. He could still go back, and stay with his battalion. Appo imagined Skywalker's cold anger, or the admiral's, faced with the news that he had not only diverted from the plan to rescue Skywalker, he had failed and compromised the entire mission.
It might not be too late to call this off. He looked down at Cody's rapidly receding silhouette, and let go of the cable line.
…
Down among the vegetation, the adrenaline still hadn't gone away.
"I can't believe I'm doing this," Appo muttered under his breath, rifle held at the ready under his poncho.
"Don't worry," Cody laughed under his breath. "This isn't the craziest plan I've ever tried."
"Without a Jedi?"
Cody stopped and took a step backward so suddenly that Appo brought his rifle up against Cody's shoulders to steady them both.
"What? What happened?" Appo looked around, seeing nothing but shadows and silhouettes of plant life, absolutely still in the windless valley.
"Nothing. I thought I heard something."
Appo held his breath and listened, wishing his nerves would calm. He needed to be just as alert as Cody. After thirty seconds, he whispered, "I don't hear anything."
"Come on." Cody led the way forward, sticking to dirt and rocks as they moved through brush, grass, and gravel. Appo followed step for step, circling around the anti-aircraft turret. The silhouettes of the B-1s guarding it occasionally turned in their direction but only once did they fire a shot, narrowly missing Cody's leg and setting a small patch of grass smoldering near Appo's feet. They both stayed still as statues.
"Huh. Maybe it was just a lizard," one of the droids said.
"You idiot," another of the droids whined. "You could start a fire! We have orders not to burn down the town. Unless the civilians get too restless. Heh heh."
"Heh heh heh," the first droid laughed unnaturally. "Wait, what?"
Once they completed a wide circle around the droids, Appo could see houses, most of them dark but one with lighted windows further down the neatly laid street. There were speeders parked in front of many of them, more droids patrolling the streets.
"I don't see any aircraft," Appo whispered, hooking his scopes back to his belt. "And from the looks of things, the droids are enforcing a curfew."
"There must be a hangar here somewhere. Flying is the easiest way in and out of this place. I doubt the clankers came in on foot." Cody studied the town from between the heavy branches of the conical tree they hid behind. "We've been looking for less than an hour. Try to be patient."
"How long do we plan to look? What's our backup plan if there's no aircraft?"
"Working on it." Cody headed to the left, sticking to the shadows of the buildings.
"Wait. You do have a backup plan, right?" Appo stopped, but Cody didn't even look back, so Appo hurried to catch up. "You're not just improvising?"
"A good commander always thinks on his feet."
"But—what you did with the airstrike—you considered all the options? You were sure it would work? You took my battalion's lives into your hands, even when I objected."
"It worked," Cody said simply. "If I'd stopped to argue, more of those men would be dead right now."
Appo considered that. "Is that how it worked when Rex was in charge? Because you were friends?" Everyone knew Rex's title of Captain didn't reflect his true rank. "Or is it a privilege of being a marshal commander?"
"The Captain," Cody said, his voice suddenly stilted, "knew what was worth risking and what wasn't. Sometimes better than I did. AndIknew when—" he stopped.
Appo waited for him to go on, but when he didn't, he asked, "You knew when to override his orders? If you had been there on Anaxes, maybe you could have stopped him."
Cody inhaled sharply—a rustle nearby brought them both around, sinking low in the brush with their rifles pointed toward the sound. They crouched like that for nearly three minutes, trying to make out whether any of the night-vision blurs hadn't been there before. Nothing. Slowly, Cody crept forward again. Appo followed, half-crawling, thinking about Cody's deduction that if there were droids, there had to be aircraft.
"Maybe they dropped the clankers off and flew back to the port," Appo suggested once they were a good distance away and felt safe to stand. "They don't need a way to retreat. They're droids. Even the seppies would rather leave them to get scrapped."
"But the civilians must also have a way of getting supplies in and out. Those speeders can't go straight up the cliffs."
"Hmm…." Cody was right, again.
For another hour, then two, they circled the inside of the caldera, never once spotting a separatist craft or even anything more than a speeder, although they counted at least two hundred battle droids and even heard the low grating voice of a super tactical droid. A small lake lay in the center of the caldera, and around it were narrow swaths of farmed fields.
What would you have done, on Umbara? Appo wanted to ask, as they darted from shadow to shadow, between buildings and bushes and woody trees. But hindsight was always clearer, and now wasn't the time for a discussion. How much do you know about what happened on Anaxes?The less talk the better—it was hard enough evading the droids as it was.
As they veered away from town, between tall rows of leafy gourd-bearing plants to get a better look at a building that could be a hangar, the urge to turn back grew stronger. We have no idea what we're doing, Appo thought, although their search pattern was logical, and Cody's confident gait never wavered. I don't know what I'm doing.
"If we don't find any aircraft here," Cody whispered, "we'll take some speeders and look somewhere else."
Somewhere else. Very specific coordinates. Appo held in a sigh and looked back the way they'd come, wondering what Cody would do if he simply insisted on going back. What would he do when he got back to the 501st? There had to be a better way than fumbling around in the dark hoping for a miracle. Coward, he growled at himself.
The light from a speeder caught his eye near the center of town. It began moving and gathering speed, and as Appo watched it veer toward the cliff walls without slowing down, the light disappeared, silently.
Bristling, Appo grabbed for Cody's shoulder. "Look!"
"What?" Cody turned.
"It's gone now, but—there was a speeder, it disappeared into the wall."
"What wall?"
"The cliff. It didn't slow down, and there was no sound of impact…do you think there are—"
A snap of brush at the end of the row made them both whirl around, and a light flashed in their eyes. A lone blue-gray reptilian in dark clothing stood in front of them when their vision cleared, a toolbox in one hand, the handle of a small cart in the other. He dropped the toolbox and took a step back when Appo pulled out his rifle. A hydrospanner spilled out and clattered across the ground.
"Soldiers!" the reptilian cried. "You're Republic soldiers!"
"Shh! Don't… move…." Cody said, raising his free hand. "Don't make any noise. Turn off that light!"
Appo jumped a little closer to Cody. "I don't see any droids close enough to notice us," he whispered. "We could shoot him before he makes any noise."
"Don't shoot," said the Gossam in a mild, hushed voice, three-fingered hands raised. He reached for the lamp with his hoof-like foot and shut it off. "I have no weapon! I'll say nothing! You never were here."
Cody motioned Appo to lower his rifle. Appo jerked his head toward the Gossam and they both advanced. The reptilian's calm wavered.
"What are you doing?"
"People on Coruscant say never trust a Gossam's word," Cody said, when he was almost right beside the little mechanic. The Gossam was only a meter and some tall, not even one and a half. "You seem like an honest man at first glance, but first—"
"O-kay… not a man, act-u-ally," the Gossam said. His scaly protruding mouth pinched at Appo's blaster being so close, even lowered as it was. "My name is Zin Chek. There. Now, you know more about me, than I do about you."
"Whatever a male Gossam is called, then."
"Not male." Appo couldn't see her expression past the afterimage of the lamp. "Okay. Never mind. Do you want something, soldier?" She spoke her Basic steadily and clear, almost like a Kaminoan, but faster. When neither of them spoke, her nerve seemed to build. "If you are determined to make assumptions about me simply because of Shu Mai's tyranny, maybe it will be easier for both of us if you shoot me for no reason. People on Saleucami say never trust a soldier to prefer talking. Okay?" Her voice wavered but she put on a good show, head held high. "I hope people are wrong."
Appo glanced at Cody and lowered his rifle a little. There didn't seem to be anything in her toolbox that qualified as a weapon.
"What are you going to do here?" she asked, ignoring the blaster now. "You want to blow up more of here?"
"We're not here to blow up anything," Cody said quietly. "We're looking for some kind of aircraft. Maybe you can help us."
"This is a barn," Zin Chek said, tossing her head at the building behind her. "The battle outside closed most ways. It took me hours to get home, thanks to you!"
"What do you mean?" Cody asked. "You mean… you don't use aircraft. You use the old lava tubes as transport tunnels. You work at the spaceport? Public systems or private?"
Appo watched Cody work, impressed at his deductions.
"Not either," sighed Zin Chek. "That is what I should say."
"Look… Zin Chek," Appo broke in amicably, seeing what Cody was doing. "You obviously know the best route to the port, if you just came from there. Give us a map of the tunnels and we'll be on our way."
"A map of the electrical systems would be even better," Cody added.
"What makes you think I have anything like that?" she said. "And why? Do you tell me you are here to bring the power back to the city?"
"The city… doesn't have any power?" Cody asked. "What do you mean?"
Zin Chek looked between them and set her toolbox on the cart. "Hmm."
She dragged the cart past them and back toward town, and they walked after her as casually as they could.
"Two nights ago, all electrical systems in the central district of Fe Tal stopped working, even some with batteries." She kept her voice low. "They let me go home tonight to check if my family was alive just because I told them I had rare parts that can repair it. There are other mechanics working every hour to get back the full communication with their armies."
"Hang on," Cody said. "Communication withtheir armies, you said. So… you're not a separatist."
"If I was separatist, why would I tell you this?" She didn't look at them, just continued walking, right into the street. Appo followed, mimicking Cody's casual gait. The houses around them had few lit windows, but a handful of civilians lingered in the doorways and porches of other buildings. "I know what you think. All Gossam are owned by the Commerce Guild, and Shu Mai expects all her people to help in war. Does it matter that my family gave up a life of pretending and came here to get away from her politics? Maybe not. Now she follows us here with droids. This was a quiet planet. I like it that way. Now where do we go?" She waved her lamp briefly in frustration. "Coruscant has banished Gossam. Other Republic worlds will not welcome us either, I think."
"So you can't help us," Cody said, after a pause. "Even if you want to. You don't know who's responsible for knocking out the power?"
"It is a war thing. I don't know. Does it matter who did it? All it means for me is more work."
"I didn't know Gossam were banned from Coruscant," Appo murmured. "Now that I think of it, I've never seen them there."
"We're trying to get the separatists off Saleucami," whispered Cody when they stopped by a speeder and Zin Chek jumped onto her flat cart and began lifting the equipment into the speeder's tarp-covered trailer. "The Republic doesn't care who lives here, as long as the separatists are gone. If you help us, Republic forces will keep Shu Mai away from your family."
Zin Chek smiled and turned her head just a little. "Something else they say on Coruscant, you should listen to. Never try to get the better of a Gossam by bargaining." She hummed a droning tone while she strained to lift the last few large pieces of equipment onto the trailer. Cody and Appo glanced at each other before Cody jumped onto the cart to lift the load for Zin Chek.
"You're headed back to the port tonight?"
Zin Chek puffed in surprise when the equipment left her hands. Cody placed it carefully on the cart.
"I am not being bought," she said warningly. "I hate the war."
"Just wanted to help," Cody said lightly and shrugged. "You don't owe us anything, but we could use a guide. Or a lift."
"If we don't get to the port, there will be more battles near villages like these," Appo said, and grabbed an armload of tech as well. "If we do get to the port, things won't take much time to settle down. We want the fighting to be over, too. We're tired."
"It is not your home shaking," sighed Zin Chek as she climbed into the driver's seat. "Ah well. Soldiers with guns hide on my speeder. What can I do about it? Nothing."
"Fair enough," said Cody apologetically. "But thank you. We owe you one. Is it Chek or Zin?"
"Zin Chek," said Zin Chek, and turned on the engine.
Appo and Cody jumped up into the trailer and secured the tarp over the tech.
"If the power is out at the central district," Cody said quietly to Appo, "maybe the grid is down, but the Generals still need help if they haven't contacted us by now."
Appo frowned; he had to agree. They both slipped under the tarp, bunched up together near the front.
"How do you know we can trust this little shaft crawler?" Appo whispered over the dual droning sounds of the engine and Zin Chek's humming. "She could take us anywhere."
"If you're worried, keep an eye on your holomap."
It was even darker under the tarp than it was outside, and Appo's eyes were drawn away from the blob that was Cody, to the passing plants and stones lit by the speeder's headlights. Then, it was all rock, and the sound of the engine turned back toward them, bouncing off the tunnel walls. The wind of their speed ruffled the tarp and the ponchos, and Appo shivered, tense as the cloth flapped against his hands and the rifle they held.
Since Rex had been sent away—executed for treason, a part of his mind said—Appo had turned all his attention to rebuilding the battalion, and trying to learn what Skywalker expected of him. He'd had little reason to interact with Cody or any other clone commander beyond cursory battlefield updates while their respective generals were calling the shots. It was one thing to command his own men, to be a link in the chain running from Skywalker down to the shiniest rookie, but Cody's presence put him on edge and made him feel like he was back in that room with Admiral Tarkin all over again, staggering at this unexpected promotion and trying to keep a straight face.
Their clash earlier had proven what he'd feared; Cody, and everyone else, couldn't help comparing him to Rex. Neither could he.
Appo flexed his fingers to keep them from cramping up around his rifle, and let the roar of the engine and the flapping of the tarp cover an angry, helpless sigh.
"Tell me something about yourself, Appo."
"Mm?" Had Cody heard him sighing?
"Do you have any tattoos?"
"Commander." Appo paused, taken off guard. "I don't think now is the best time."
Cody didn't reply, leaving Appo wondering what was running through his head. There were much more personal questions on his mind, but he wasn't sure the answers would do him any good.
…
Had it been an hour, or half the night? Appo kept waiting for a checkpoint, or any sight of the enemy. But there was nothing to see when he peered beneath the tarp. The longer the engine roared in his ears, the harder it was to stay confident in their chances of success.
Then, the colors from beyond the tarp changed. Instead of steady darkness, they were passing bright strips of light at intervals.
"We are almost there," Zin Check said suddenly.
Appo had almost forgotten there was someone driving the speeder. He turned on the holomap for the dozenth time, and after a moment he could see the little dot that represented their position, just colliding with the outer edge of the city.
Cody shifted beside him, mumbling. "Rex?"
Appo looked over, stomach twisting. But the commander's eyes were closed; Appo jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow, and Cody jerked awake. Was he so calm that he could sleep anywhere?
"Wh…what? What happened?" Cody straightened, looking around.
"Soldiers," Zin Chek hissed, "I will try to distract anyone when I stop, before they look at the back."
"Thank you," Cody said, slowly shifting to a crouch. His voice showed no sign of confusion at being woken so suddenly. "The name's Cody, by the way."
"Cody. I won't remember it. You humans all look the same to me, I'm sorry."
Cody laughed. Appo felt desperate, wound tight from hours, days of expecting a sudden attack.
"Focus," he hissed to himself. "We have to get off this trailer and find the Generals without getting caught."
"At least the map of the city is more detailed than the rest of it," Cody pointed out, and Appo looked down again. They were passing into the central district now. Suddenly, the strip lights stopped and it was just Zin Chek's headlight again.
"Zin Chek," Appo said, unable to hold it in any more now that the silence was broken. "You haven't asked us why we need to get into the port."
"You want to spy, maybe," Zin Chek said. "Or sabotage more of it. I don't know. It will probably make my job harder, whatever it is. You will probably get captured just like the first ones."
"Wait—so they were captured?" Cody said, twisting to face the driver. "I thought you said you didn't know—!"
"Hello officer!" Zin Chek said loudly, without slowing down her speeder. A second light source grew rapidly. "I'm in a hurry! I have equipment to fix the city and I am late!"
"Hey! Wait!" whined the voice of a B-1, but a more organic voice said, "Got it, move along!"
"Thank you! Good morning!" Zin Chek yelled, and the light faded out.
Appo shifted to hands and knees, trying to see out from under the tarp. He just caught a glimpse of the receding checkpoint, and the next one was coming up quick. "Droid sentries at every fork. This isn't gonna be easy."
"They haven't stopped us yet. Zin Chek, did the saboteurs get taken to the prison block?"
"Where else? High security still has power. Maybe you plan to cut it… you need access."
"A code?"
Why didn't I think to question her more? Appo thought. Instead he had spent hours trying to pull a strategy out of the blank space in his brain. Immobilized, like dumb livestock.
Zin Chek sighed explosively. "You are really going to die! Do you not care? Is it about glory?"
"We have to complete—" Appo began, but Cody interrupted.
"We're trying to rescue our friends."
Zin Chek didn't say anything. The speeder continued straight for a few minutes, then veered sharply right. Appo slammed into Cody before righting himself—the equipment banged and rattled around, and a far corner of the tarp snapped free.
"Well," Cody said to Appo, pointing at the holomap still projecting from Appo's wrist. "Looks like we're going to the prison block, one way or another."
"She's going to hand us over," Appo whispered. "There's nothing for her to gain by helping us!"
"We'll have to risk it. It's getting us closer to our goal either way."
"You must have very bad hearing," Zin Chek said over the roar of the speeder. It was accelerating. "You think you are talking so quiet. Taking no side means nobody is on my side. I am starting to see. You can shoot me but if I am alive I can help you. Maybe Jedi will be as noble as they think they are. Maybe remember that one Gossam is not a traitor. Maybe draw the fighting to here instead of by the homes. There are reasons."
"I'll tell my Jedi about you," Cody promised. "I'm sure he'll do whatever he can to help your people."
"You can help right now!" Zin Chek yelled, a new urgency in her voice.
Cody shoved the tarp aside and sat up on one knee, and Appo followed. The tunnels were still dark apart from the headlight but up ahead he saw a forcefield stretching across a checkpoint where half a dozen B-1s were stationed.
"Appo, take right!" Cody yelled. "We can knock it out!"
"Are we going to slow down?!" Appo asked, already firing, his aim going wide the first two shots. Five shots later and the light fizzled out, two seconds before they screeched through, the speeder peppered with blaster bolts from the droids. Zin Chek yelled and swerved a little.
"If I survive long enough to get you there!"
"You're doing great!" Cody yelled. "Keep going!"
"The light doesn't reach that far!" Appo argued. "We could crash before we know what's coming! We need to slow down!"
"You have a map!" Zin Chek yelled back. "Use it!"
"It doesn't show the tunnels! It just says we're under the city!"
"How far until we're at the edge of the complex?" Cody asked.
Appo fumbled with his rangefinder. The numbers flashed in his eyes. "Two hundred meters!"
Zin Chek screeched something that sounded like a curse and hit the brakes. Appo pushed himself back from the rails and felt Cody grabbing at him with one hand. The trailer began to drift and push the speeder sideways and then they were spinning, Zin Chek clinging to the controls, Appo and Cody balled up by the rails while the tarp came free and the heavy equipment smashed against them. Something struck the side of his head and he tasted blood before the weight tumbled back onto his leg—pain lanced up from his knee, lightning splitting his femur and hip and burning out to the edge of his skin.
"Get up! Get up, get up!" Zin Chek was practically spitting, and he heard himself gasping. Something clanged loudly against the bars of the trailer. Appo finally found his voice and groaned as the weight shifted—Cody was lifting what looked like a huge battery off his trapped leg.
"Get up, get up! We have to go!" Zin Chek hopped up and down. "The droids will be here!"
"Guh," Appo said as he took Cody's offered hand and staggered to his feet, nearly choking on his own breath. It's only pain, he told himself. He could stand; it wasn't broken. Appo's knee buckled but he vaulted over the trailer's edge anyway—the lightning went up into his skull as soon as his feet hit the ground; he grunted and fell.
It was dark, and the speeder's engine was still running, powering the light that showed only a blank stone wall. The light on the end of Cody's rifle switched on and swung toward Appo's leg. He pushed himself up, grinding his teeth so hard his jaw hurt.
"Over there!" Zin Chek said, squinting and waving her hands to her left when he flashed the light in her eyes. "Come, up the ladder!"
She was off, toward the door of a maintenance tube, cranking the inset manual handle with all her might. Cody ran after her to help, and within a moment of opening it she was scrambling up the rungs with practiced speed. Appo tried to run after them, his knee buckling every other step, barely catching himself from falling. Cody disappeared up the tube while he was still meters away, and Appo sucked in breath through his clenched teeth, pushing himself to go faster.
A light flashed back down just before he reached the tube.
"Appo!" Cody's voice called.
"Coming," Appo panted and limped inside, pulling the door closed behind him. He was drenched in cool sweat and it was hard getting a grip on the ladder, but he hauled himself up without hesitation, his arms and good leg quickly helping him catch up to the others.
In the shaft, their boots on the ladder shook the dark air as rungs passed in and out of Cody's light.
"Here!" Zin Chek yelped at the second platform they reached, and Cody reached down to clasp Appo's arm and help him up, just as a light flashed from below and the tinny voices floated toward them. Cody shut his light off and Appo did the same, trying to slow his breathing while Zin Chek pulled at another manual hatch.
"Do you see anything?" one of the droids whined.
"Uhh…no? I just see a ladder."
"Retrieve a flare!"
"Roger roger."
With a loud creak the hatch gave way to another dark hallway; Zin Chek scrabbled at their legs with her small fingers, urging them forward. Blaster fire peppered the air behind them; Appo lurched inside; Cody slammed and cranked the door shut.
Appo pulled up his map again, lighting the tiled space a soft blue. "We're outside the—"
"The prison hangar!" Zin Chek said in an urgent whisper. "Follow me!"
They passed an open janitorial closet, and Zin Chek raced ahead out of range of their light. Cody lunged ahead and as Appo limped closer he saw she was trying to input a security code at the lift doors. A red light flashed against her face.
"Ach, no! No, I know this!" Zin Chek clapped her hands together once and then input the code again; the pad turned green. "In, in!"
Cody stepped into the lift and Appo hurried to catch up, each step bringing the contents of his stomach closer to his throat. A choking noise made it through his teeth just as he stepped inside, shaking.
Cody looked over at him. "You alright?"
Appo just panted and leaned against the wall, focusing on breathing. It's only pain. It's just signals in your brain. He couldn't puke like some shiny in front of the commander. He pulled his rifle from where it rested on his back. Cody followed suit.
"If they start shooting at us, I am hiding behind you," Zin Chek said nervously.
"We'll cover you," Cody agreed. "Can you access the prison roster?"
"I can do better," Zin Chek said, "I can shut down the rays. But you hold the droids off!"
"That's fine," Appo breathed, bracing himself to run again as the lift slowed.
"Great!" Cody said.
The lift opened to a foyer with about a dozen droids on the far end, and a tactical droid at the main computer terminal. Cody and Appo began shooting two seconds before the droids could respond; Zin Check climbed up Cody's back beneath the poncho.
"Get closer to the terminal!" Zin Chek ordered.
"I've got it!" Appo launched off his good leg and rolled between the opening in the computer station, firing up at the tactical droid from the ground. The blasts hit it under the chin in its weak spot—the head went flying and the remaining B-1s staggered backward in surprise.
Cody ran out from behind the pillar and side-stepped his way toward the terminal, shooting the last few droids down, one, two—"AGH!"
His left side smoking from where the bolt grazed him, Cody staggered and ducked under the jutting edge of the nearest computer console while Zin Chek jumped off him and tore open a panel underneath.
"If I die here I am going to be a fool," she muttered. Appo pushed himself to hands and knees, and immediately had to shift weight off his bad knee.
"More droids will be here any second," Appo said between clenched teeth.
"Okay!" Zin Chek said impatiently, half buried in wiring, and Appo aimed for the doors, Cody following his lead now. There were three of them, branching off opposite from the lift they'd come from.
"OKAY, I said!" Zin Chek repeated. "Let's leave!"
"What?" said Cody.
"The cells are open!" She grabbed Cody's elbow. Her scaly skin was bluer in the bright light.
"We have to find the Generals!" Cody said. "Appo, can you still walk?"
Appo sucked a breath between his teeth and pulled himself to his feet. "Let's go."
"Which way?" Cody asked Zin Chek. "Wait… do you know where they keep confiscated weapons?"
"Ah… let me see!" She leapt back onto the nearest terminal, picked her way between the screens and navigated the fourth one to the display she wanted. "This way!"
Appo lurched toward the furthest corridor without looking back.
…
The Generals' lightsabers were inside a drawer behind two more squads of droids and a locked door. Cody pulled out both of them while Appo guarded the door, amazed that they'd made it this far.
"Catch!"
Appo turned and fumbled slightly as he caught it. "Could you hand it to me?" he yelled before he could help himself. "This is a lightsaber!"
"It's not going to break," Cody said carelessly.
"Still—it's—"
"A Jedi's life," Cody finished. That wasn't what Appo was going to say. "I know. For how often they say that, they've dropped them more times than I—"
"Someone is coming!" Zin Chek said, from her post by the door.
Cody and Appo spun with blasters aimed just as it opened.
"General Kenobi!" Cody cried.
"Cody?" Kenobi was supporting General Skywalker, who immediately straightened and pulled away. Behind him came Aayla Secura and Stass Allie. "What are you doing here?" asked Kenobi. "I thought—is that my poncho?"
"It's good to see you too, sir!" Cody leapt forward eagerly, and Appo shifted further back against the wall. "When we lost communication with you, we feared the worst." Cody held out Kenobi's lightsaber.
Kenobi took it with a brief, incredulous grin, glancing between Cody and Appo. But his face fell. "You're injured. Both of you."
Appo lifted the lightsaber he held to offer it to Skywalker, but it tore free of its own accord and sailed toward Skywalker's open hand.
"It…uh, it's nothing serious, sir," said Appo, one hand still raised and half open. "General Skywalker—are you alright?"
Skywalker activated the saber in his left hand—his right arm was limp and torn open to reveal the wires and tendons underneath.
"Fine," Skywalker said sharply, and Appo came to attention with his rifle, hoping as always that Skywalker couldn't sense as much as he feared he could. "Why aren't you with the rest of the men?"
"Sir. Our captains agreed to take temporary command. Commander Cody and I decided that in the event the Jedi failed, it was our duty to complete the mission and take out the port's sensor grid. But it looks like… you beat us to it."
Skywalker's face darkened, but Kenobi cleared his throat and stepped in front of him before he could respond. "I'm glad you're here," he said to Cody. "I need to send a message to the fleet. I hope your communicator still works."
"Yes, sir," Cody said, grinning. "Last I checked." He held his arm out to Kenobi.
"AndI need to contact my commander," Secura said, stepping lightly forward to catch the lightsaber Cody threw, just as more droids came into view behind them.
"Door open or shut?" Zin Chek cried from the other side of the door.
"We should find a safer place to discuss our next move," General Allie said.
"Right. Yes, of course." Kenobi turned his saber on and looked at Zin Chek briefly. "Our introduction will have to wait, I'm afraid."
"Better than nothing!" Zin Chek said. "Follow me! The ships in the hangar are all dead!"
It was a quick fight there with the Jedi in front, deflecting fire. Appo focused on aiming rather than masking his limp. Skywalker's saber swings stuttered, awkward in his left hand, but he never missed either. And Zin Chek clung to Cody's back the whole way, yelling directions.
When they hit the empty hangar floor, it was one last mad dash before they were all cramped together in the cockpit of the nearest abandoned ship. No one was guarding ships that couldn't fly. A squad of droids ran right past. Obi-Wan dialed coordinates on Cody's arm and immediately began sending messages to the fleet while Appo leaned against the wall behind Skywalker's seat, catching his breath. He could let Cody tell the tale. No one was looking at him.
"Patience, your bombers are cleared for an airstrike on the city perimeter. Tenacity, this is General Obi-Wan Kenobi, please respond. We need an airdrop of the following platoons, to be picked up at these coordinates."
"Commander Bly," Secura said, when Kenobi was finished and it was her turn. "This is General Secura."
"General Secura!" The voice on the other end was near ecstatic. "It's good to hear your voice."
While they talked, Obi-Wan settled himself carefully against the control board of the craft and folded his arms to look at Cody with some amazement. Cody stared back, resting in the pilot's seat.
"How did you get here so quickly?" Kenobi asked quietly, between the orders and reports being passed back and forth. "Let me guess, you stole an enemy ship?"
"Something like that, sir." Cody grinned a little and nodded to Zin Chek, who was perched up on the copilot-side panel watching for more droids. "Zin Chek got us in. We owe her our lives."
"I must find some way to thank you when we're out of danger." Obi-Wan smiled at the Gossam when she looked back at him.
"I'll hold you to your word, Jedi," Zin Chek said, making herself as tall as she could. "I worry most for my family and my people. We will talk."
"Of course," Kenobi said gently.
"Was it… originally part of your plan to disable your own comms?" Cody asked, almost playfully.
Kenobi chuckled. "No, I'm afraid we found ourselves in a bit of a tight spot and had no other options to disable the grid. Anakin suggested we come up with a way to send an electromagnetic pulse through the central district. Which… it turns out, was something only Anakin knew how to put together. So the rest of us just… held the droids at bay until he could finish his genius invention." Kenobi's voice was full of exasperated pride.
Appo couldn't see Skywalker's face from where he stood behind the co-pilot's chair, but he could hear his bitter voice. "Heh. Well… too bad I wasn't enough of a genius to get my hand working again after the pulse killed it. Or our communicators. They captured us while we were looking for a way to contact the fleet."
Kenobi gave an uncomfortable laugh. "The city may not be ours, but the odds are a good deal better now, Anakin."
"You gave your right arm to save the rest of us, sir," Appo said softly, and everyone but Secura turned to look at him as if they'd forgotten he was there. Appo faltered, stiffening. "I'm sure I speak for the Five Oh First when I say you're the best General we could want to lead us."
Skywalker turned to glance at him, and his jaw moved without his mouth opening. He turned forward again and bowed his head low. At last he stood up with a heavy sigh. "I appreciate your determination, Commander Appo." It came out in a mutter as Skywalker passed."Excuse me."
Appo stood, torn. Determination. What did he mean by that? Appo turned away from the eyes of everyone and followed his general out. The door closed behind him, and he hobbled quickly toward Skywalker's receding figure.
"General!"
"Don't follow me," Skywalker snapped. "I know you're trying to prove something."
"Sir…." Appo stopped.
"I don't need my commander to try and be my friend." A moment later he was gone, down the ramp of the ship. Appo stood there, his leg beginning to shake of its own accord, then limped through the nearest open door into the cargo hold to sit down and look it over. What else was there to do?
He took off Skywalker's poncho and folded it up carefully, aware of what Skywalker must have thought when he saw him wearing it. And rightfully so. Appo pulled his boot off and started tenderly rolling up the leg of his pants.
"How bad?"
Cody's voice made him glance up, and Appo grunted at his purple shin. "Deep bruising… something worse with my knee, though. Not sure if it's just my imagination—seems crooked."
"Did you say anything else to Skywalker?" Cody asked, too casually.
Appo went very still, both hands cupped around his knee. "Like what?" he asked. Had they heard what Skywalker had said to him?
"Look… Appo, you… you were right." Cody sat down on the edge of a crate facing the door. "About General Skywalker. I don't know what he expects. Even General Kenobi doesn't know everything that's in his head right now. And there's obviously something going on with the Five Oh First. Why the standardization?"
"It's just camouflage," Appo said, wishing he wasn't still breathless.
"I'm not talking about the camouflage. I saw your battalion before they left the Tenacity. Every last man had the same pattern, even Torrent Company."
"I don't want to talk about this," Appo said abruptly. "I'm sure the order will reach your battalion soon. We were just one of the first to have it implemented. It doesn't mean anything."
"You expect me to believe that?" Cody sighed.
Appo rubbed his knee slowly with both hands, looking at the floor, grasping for ways to end this conversation. He would have to face Cody's opinion of him, and Skywalker's as well. "You miss Rex, don't you?"
Cody's leg twitched toward his chest—he drew his foot up toward the crate, then put it back down and folded his arms. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Everything's different now," Appo muttered, hissing a little as he shifted position, stretching his leg out in front of him. "It's better if both of us accept that. I'm trying to work with the current situation. To be what I have to be, and that's what we're all expected to do, as soldiers. Let's not…make this personal, alright? It isn't personal." He looked up wearily.
Cody took a deep breath. "Right. I know. I didn't—"
"From now on, if we don't want to talk about it… we don't talk about it." Appo rolled down his pants and started tugging his boot back on. "Agreed?"
Cody stood up, looking back toward the open hold door. "Fine," he sighed. "I was just…. Fine. I'm going to get some rest." Cody held out a hand to help him up.
"Good idea," Appo murmured, not moving.
Cody let his hand drop and didn't look back at Appo. He turned and walked away, and Appo let himself fall back against the crates, exhausted.
…