Just some fun times on Coruscant for this chapter, and then on to the Ryloth Arc. After that I'm going to Cargo of Doom or another filler before heading into that episode. We're also getting close to the Geonosis arc as well, and who's excited for that?
And an apology to anyone who is in the Armed Forces and is reading this story. There will be a scene where everyone is marching in a Military Parade style, and I don't think I got everything right. Sorry in advance.
Also to my Loud Gravity reader's, I'm almost done with the chapter, and I'll have it out by the end of the week.
Hope you enjoy this, and I own none of the content, except for Tessa.
Night at the Bar
A couple of days later, the Resolute and two other ships got out of Hyperspace. What greeted them was the capital planet and the heart of the Republic, Coruscant. Ships of all shapes and sizes zoomed to and from it, with Republic Military ships guarding the planet, and some heading off to wherever or whenever the war was.
Tessa and the dozens of clones who were watching from the Mess Hall side window, who haven't seen Coruscant were left in awe or the ones who have been there, were ready for some R&R.
It was much better than staying in bed in the Med Bay, even though after she woken up a second time, and Coric said she had to stay there for at least a day for observation. This wasn't fun for her at all, considering she got restless when things got boring. Lucky for her, Coric, Cutup, and the Sarge were there with her, even though Cutup only stayed for another two hours before he was cleared to leave, and then the Sarge. She then got the idea of annoying Coric, by making sounds, and asking him questions while he worked. She snickered at the memory of him letting her out an hour early. She wasn't sure if she was ok to leave, or was close enough for Coric to get her out of his hair.
One thing about Coric is that he was pretty stuck up and by the books when it came to medicine. Which made sense, considering he had to work well under pressure when patching someone up. But it was fun to push his buttons when he's in that mood though.
When she was still recuperating in the Med-Bay, General Skywalker and Commander Tano had also visited her. She pretty much owed her life to him, and she was thankful. He also said he approved of Beta Squad being the Commander's personal squad, and he looked forward to see what they would accomplish.
Commander Tano had told her that they would start training, after they all had some down time on Coruscant. And she was pretty excited for it, but she was more excited to have some down time and hang out with her brothers.
She had asked the General and Commander would do, considering they were Jedi, and they probably had to do something else.
But basically, they said they would spend time in the Jedi Temple. She had heard and read about it, and she was sorta interested to see what it looked like in person.
"Gotta say, Coruscant is pretty nice looking." Echo said.
"Yeah, it has it's charm, although it can be crowded as our bed chambers back on Kamino." Attie said.
Fives scoffed and said," That was the only thing about Kamino I didn't like. We have bunks now, but the Kaminoan's couldn't spring for beds as well."
Cutup snickered and said," Remember when Tess's malfunctioned and she ended up trapped in it until someone from maintenance got her out."
Echo chuckled and said," Never heard someone swear that much. Didn't you end up sleeping with the thing open for a week, until Bric yelled at you to buck up and deal with it?"
Tessa glared at them, but she shivered at the memory. The thing was dark due to the lights on the inside malfunctioning, and it felt like the walls were closing in on her. It did not help when her brothers were shouting words of encouragement and telling her stay calm.
Zeer who was nearby shook his head in slight amusement and said," Well, we'll have more time to talk about the interesting back-story of our only sister later. Right now, we need to prepare our equipment for the barracks on planet."
"Yes sir, thank you." Tessa said, happy they would drop the subject.
Nax didn't share the sentiment by saying," While we walk back to the barracks, do you think you boys could tell me more about what happened."
Tessa had just put her helmet on, but she was glaring daggers at him.
A couple of hours later, the Resolute had landed on the designated landing pad. Tessa and the rest of the troopers on the 501st who weren't on duty, stood in the side hanger bay in Parade formation.
They all held their Rifles in their right arms, and stood at attention. All of them were divided into platoons, with the General, his Padawan and the Captain stood in the front, in the middle.
"The ship is finished with landing procedures, General Skywalker. We will be opening the doors momentarily." Admiral Yularen said in Anakin's comm.
"Thank you Admiral. Alright Rex, you have the reins for this." Anakin said.
Rex nodded and placed his helmet on. He took a couple of steps and stood in front of everyone.
"Attention!" He shouted.
All the clones stood upright, while holding their weapons on their shoulders.
The bay doors opened and the light of the Coruscant mid-afternoon shown throughout the hanger.
"Forward! March!" Rex yelled.
The steady echo of boots marching was heard. All the clones marched out of the hanger in synch. Anakin, Ahsoka and Rex stood right in the middle of it.
"Wow, this is still pretty cool." Ahsoka said.
"Yeah, it never gets old." Anakin agreed.
As soon as Tessa got out, she was greeted by the Republic Military loading dock of the Base. She saw in her line of vision a bunch of Holo-recording droids. She smirked under her helmet, looks like they'll be on the Holo-News later. From another vantage point, she could see balcony's holding Republic Military Officials, including what she assumed were Jedi.
It would've been cool to see the Chancellor himself, she had saw him on the Holo-News a couple of times. But she knew he was a very busy person, and probably had something else to do.
They all did a couple of more maneuvers, and then stood at attention.
"They better show this to the Separatists. This will make them quake in their metal boots." Tessa whispered to Echo, who was next to her.
"I sure hope so." He said.
Tessa stretched as she laid on her bunk in the Platoon's assigned barrack. The Legion itself, the personal who weren't working, had the rest of the day off. She was pretty ecstatic, because that meant she could just relax, and possibly hang around and explore Coruscant.
To anyone who saw her, they would've seen a small glint in her eye, and her mouth curved in a smirk. Due to her thinking about going to the Range, and doing some target practice.
She would've had a shooting contest against Nax, but unfortunately he was taking a nap, and she didn't want to wake him up. Even though she really wanted to, but her good side won out.
Tonight, the Squad was planning on to explore Coruscant, and just have some fun.
Considering the events that had happened, they all deserved some down time.
Before getting the idea of going to the Practice Range, she was taking nap, due to having the night shift back on the Resolute before they made it to Coruscant.
She got up, got her Rifle, and picked up the ammo cartridge, and placed her helmet on her head.
"Whatcha planning on doing, sis?" Cutup asked.
Him, Echo, Attie, Del, and Zeer were playing Sabaac. While Coric was reading something on his bunk, which Tessa had to guess had something to do with medicine. While Fives was busy at the workout center of the base.
"Just going to shoot some targets. Even the best have to practice."
All five of them rolled their eyes.
"Well if the best won't be too busy later, we're heading out of the base for some drinks. Or are you too busy?" Zeer sarcastically said, and the others chuckled.
Tessa smirked under her helmet and said," Why Sarge, I didn't know you have a sense of humor."
She walked out of the barracks, while the others laughed, and Zeer rolled his eyes.
Later that night, the entire squad had gotten passes to go out of the base, and made sure to log in their absence.
Tessa felt weird without her weapon, granted, she had gone without it plenty of times when she wasn't on duty, but right now, it felt odd.
Maybe it was because she was on a planet she hadn't been on before, and she needed something to defend herself with. She would've had her knife, but Zeer said it was a time spent relaxing.
She, Echo, Fives and Cutup were pretty much gawking at everything Coruscant had to offer. From the signs of many establishments, to the melting pot of the number of species who resided on the capital planet, and many other things.
Clone Security personnel or the Coruscant Guard would pass by and they would wave or say high to them as they did their rounds. People would glance at them, while others would look at them excitedly; mainly the kids were still out with their parents.
A couple of tourists, how there could be tourists during a war; Tessa could only figure out, stopped them and took pictures with them. One was surprised that she was a female, and said he only saw male clones.
Tessa merely shrugged and said she was surprised as well. That got everyone in the squad to roar in laughter for a good 2 minutes while walking.
The bar they were going to was a good 15 minute walk and was called 79's. A bar that was frequented by clones. Tessa wasn't much of a drinker, and had only done so when the Mess had some after a battle, and everyone was celebrating.
Maybe it was her instincts to keep her brothers safe. Especially the possibility of them getting drunk, and she has to get them out of a situation. But fortunately, nothing bad has happened yet.
They joked she was the mother of the Squad, and that she had taken the title and role from Zeer. Nax got a smack on the back of the head from the Sergeant in question for making that comment, even though he had a small smirk on his features.
As they walked, Tessa could hear music, and familiar loud voices. When they turned the corner, she saw half a dozen clones in different uniforms hanging out outside of a club, which said 79's.
For some reason she felt nervous, she didn't know why, but she had to guess it had to do with introducing herself again. Everyone so far had welcomed her with open arms. So it shouldn't be different, but it could be.
Echo seemed to sensed this, and placed hand on her shoulder and said," Hey, don't worry, everything's going to be fine.
Tessa grinned under her helmet and said," Do you think you can repeat that, it make me feel better."
Echo rolled his eyes, and everyone soon took off their helmets as they got to the club or bar. They would've left their helmets back at the base, but they were all required to have their equipment on at all times, excluding weapons.
Zeer had told them that there was helmet storage there. All you had to do was give the droid your Military Branch designation, the serial number you were born with or the identifying code on your wrist, or nickname if you had one.
A group of clones were outside, they wore green armor, and they soon noticed the group.
One of them smirked and said," Hey, our brothers from the 501st, what's it like working with 'The Hero with No Fear', huh?"
Zeer shrugged and said," Hey as long as he lets us bust clankers. Then he's ok in our book."
The group laughed, but then they noticed Tessa. She shyly waved at them, and they blinked. The one who talked to Zeer, grinned and started to walk to them. When he got to Tessa, he put his hand on her shoulder.
"Heard a lot of about you sister. It's great to finally meet ya, you wear the armor proud. C'mon, my squad will buy your squad first round. Also, the names Forest, that's: Shrubs, Rocky, and Eagle. We're part of the 41st Ranger Platoon."
Tessa smiled and said, "Huntress, or how my squad calls me Tess or Tessa. Say if you guys are elite, who's the one that has good aim?"
Eagle who had dyed his hair blonde, and had a crew cut said with a smirk," That would be me. You saying you have better aim."
Tessa shrugged and said," You said it, not me."
Eagle had a look and said," Well then, they have a couple of dart boards in there. What say you and I have a friendly competition?"
Tessa had a glint in her eye and said," Challenge accepted. But first that drink our brother promised."
"After you then, sister."
Tessa and he walked into the club. While the other clones were left speechless at what had just transpired.
Echo broke the silence by saying," What the kriff just happened?"
"I'm starting to think Sharpshooters or anyone good with a weapon are crazy or something." Cutup said.
Coric scratched the back of his head and said, "I'm starting to get the feeling as well. Hey Nax what do you…"
Everyone looked to where Attie was looking. Nax wasn't with them, but then they heard a loud cheer from inside. They looked to see in time Nax coming out of the building.
"Hey guys! The bar just got quiet! Eagle and I managed to shush everyone, and introduced them to Tess. They all cheered when they saw her. And she's blushing like crazy."
Both groups looked at each other, and then walked into the bar.
It would be 20 minutes later with everyone at the bar was quiet, watching two people intensively. Tessa narrowed her eyes at the target, and took a quick glance at Eagle, who had the same look, then at Nax, who looked calm.
"Toss!" Zeer said.
All three of them threw their darts at the target. All three hit the Holo-Board, and then their scores lit up.
1st Huntress- 45
2nd Nax- 43
3rd Eagle- 40
Everyone in the bar cheered or groaned, depending if the person they bet on won or lost. As soon as everyone had gotten into the bar, they started to get drinks, crack jokes, and spent time with their other brothers. The only downside was that a women, who Tessa guessed was only there to have a good time with one of the guys thought she was a guy as well, and tried to flirt with her. Tessa blushed, said she wasn't interested, and didn't swing that way. The girl, a human, looked shocked and had pretty much sprinted away from her after she realized she wasn't one of her brothers. That got a huge laugh from the table, and more embarrassment.
But overall, Tessa was pretty happy when everyone had welcomed her with open arms. She guessed she didn't have to worry about being an outcast or something. And how they had gotten into a dart competition well, she, Nax and Eagle were talking about how many droid kills they had gotten and the longest distance they had ever gotten.
Tessa had to guess the others were in a betting mood, so they managed to rope them into a Dart Throwing competition. And how they had gotten everyone in the bar to quiet down, and watch them, she could only guess. But here she was, and she had just won.
Tessa jumped up with a cheer, Nax and Eagle shook each other's and then her hand.
"Looks like the student has become the master." Nax sagely said.
Tessa winked and said," Yeah, and she beat her master's sorry ass."
Fives took a sip of his drink and put his arm around her," Hey, was there any doubt? I just won 50 credits because of you."
Tessa playfully shoved him and said," Hey, if I'm just a money maker, then I get to keep all of it."
"Oh you get to keep all of it? What if we need money and we ask you?" Echo asked.
Tessa took a sip of her Corellian Whisky, she had to admit, Corellian's knew how to make alcohol.
"Then you'll have to do some favors for me." She simply said.
"Heh, that doesn't sound scary at all. And I've only known her for almost half an hour." Shrubs muttered.
"Hey, someone turn up the volume!" Someone yelled.
Tessa and everyone else looked at one of the Holo-TV's, and it was showing a black Human Male and a pink Twi'lek female, the former looking more downcast than the male reporter, who was talking.
"Republic Military Officials have made a promise to end the suffering of the Twi'lek people. It has now been 3 months since Republic Forces were forced to retreat from Ryloth, home planet of the Twi'lek people, who my colleague here, Shera B'yala is from. You know you didn't have to report this one with me. We would've understood."
Shera gave a sad smile and said," Thank you Bono, but I felt I needed to do this." She said and took a breath.
"From what information we have gotten from Ryloth, Separatist occupation is taking a number on the citizen's. And the resistance led by Cham Syndulla is holding their own against the Droid Army, but have only a limited amount of time. Ryloth's Senator Orn Free Taa has pledged to send pressure to the Senate and Military for GAR military action."
"I've seen video's of him. He's as fat as a Sarlacc, and probably doesn't know how to work a blaster." Forest muttered.
"Meh politicians, what are you going to do." Attie said.
"Ryloth is one of the many planets in the Outer Rim being sieged and fought over by Republic and Separatist Military forces. No clear sign or indication of when relief will come to Ryloth, and when we asked Republic GAR officials they declined to comment."
"C'mon, we all know we're going back to help the Tail-Heads! Just point us where the droids are, and we'll clobber them!" Someone yelled, and Tessa could hear his voice was slightly slurred.
"Now, we hope relief comes soon. And in other news, The Duchess of Mandalore has pledge more medical and other supplies to war refugees-"
After that, everyone resumed to what they were doing. But now some of the conversations were going towards Ryloth. Or some of the clones comforting some of the Twi'lek women who were there. And it didn't take a genius to know they were trying to score with them.
"So, wonder who gets the straw that would give them a ticket to Ryloth." Fives said.
Zeer shrugged and said," Well, all we have to do is wait and receive the orders if we get them, gentlemen and lady. Also tomorrow, Commander Tano wants train with us. She's keeping her promise of us being her go-to people. But tonight, we just here to relax, and have fun. That's an order."
"I hear that. To the 501st!" Cutup said.
The whole squad, and a few others who were part of the 501st cheered, did a toast and drank their drinks.
Tessa thought about it as she took another swig at her drink, she still felt warm drinking it, and wondered if they were going to Ryloth after leave was over.
If they did, then she knew that they would be ready, after all, they were bred for it after all.
