I don't know if my theory is accurate, but I have a feeling that the clones ended up imitating their generals' more outstanding characteristics. Not completely, of course - they all have their own traits as well, but . . .
For example: Obi-Wan is cautious but relentless; so are Cody and his men. Anakin fearlessly and creatively fights his way through the biggest obstacles; so do Rex and his men.
There are fewer examples from the other Jedi's troopers, but you can still see it in their commanders. Plo Koon is more openly caring; Wolffe - well, he seems to work hard at being gruff about it, but . . . :) Luminara is confident and calm; so is Gree. And even though we don't see much of Commander Monnke (sadly), I couldn't help but wonder if he and his men would tend to be more like Kit Fisto - cheerful and more casual . . .
Thus, this fic. :) Hope you enjoy it!
A special thanks to Griffin Stone for letting me use her clone trooper OC, Crawl. :)
Anakin lifted his lightsaber, urging the troops of the Four Forty-Second through the grassy field as they stormed the hill. Ahead of them, Master Fisto leaped and twisted, cutting down droids with every motion of his green blade.
"Anakin!" he called. "Good to see you!"
"Master Fisto." Anakin jumped forward to slice a super battle droid in half. "I hope our Neimoidian friend is still inside."
"We must invite him to join us," replied the Nautolan Jedi with a flashing grin, and turned to his troops. "Commander Monnk! Keep the troops back until I call for you."
"Sure thing, General!"
Anakin caught sight of a damaged droid just behind Monnk. It raised its gun, and Anakin reached out with the Force and jerked the commander out of range while four other clones shot the droid full of lasers.
Monnk got up, apparently unbothered by his sudden flight through the air, waved a cheerful acknowledgement to Anakin, and went back to regroup with his men.
The two Jedi sprang forward, covering the distance to the Neimoidian ship in a single jump. Kit Fisto pressed the release, and the door opened.
The entirety of the small craft was visible from the doorway, but no one was inside. Anakin frowned. "Where could he have gone?"
"I don't –"
Something beeped shrilly.
"Oh, not again," said Kit Fisto.
"Yes, again."
The Jedi jumped back from the door and turned to run. They'd barely taken three steps when the bomb exploded.
"General? General Skywalker, can you hear me?"
Anakin groaned and tried to open his eyes. No luck. "Mmph."
There was a short silence before a voice, both familiar and unfamiliar, said, "You'll be fine, General, don't worry."
Anakin wasn't worried, he was annoyed. Annoyed that he couldn't open his eyes, and annoyed that the target had escaped.
A familiar chuckle sounded, and a new voice spoke. "I'm afraid we failed the mission, my friend."
Anakin finally succeeded in opening his eyes. The soft light above him made him blink and lift a hand to shield his gaze. "Ow!"
"Ah, you're awake." The cheerful voice was definitely Master Fisto's.
Soft light, faint beeping . . . Med bay. Anakin peered suspiciously up at the red medic symbol on the grey uniform of the clone leaning over him. "Kix?"
"No, sir." The clone sat down beside him and checked the readings on the panel next to his head. "I'm Sunny, chief medic of the Four Forty-Second. You're aboard the Indomitable."
"Oh." Anakin digested this information for a moment.
Sunny held up one hand. "How many fingers?"
"Three," said Anakin without looking.
"Jedi trick, sir?" The medic grinned.
Anakin gave a world-weary sigh. "No, but Kix and Coric always do three. What's the verdict, Sunny?"
"Nothing's broken," replied Sunny, hopping up. "You'll experience some dizziness and ringing in your ears for a while, though."
He moved to the medbay door. "I've got to check in with Commander Monnk, generals, and then I'll be back. If you need anything, Skip's in the next room. Don't try to check yourselves out, because I've already put you in the system as staying here over night. Mandatory."
He winked and hurried out.
Anakin finally turned his attention to his fellow Jedi, who was sitting in a meditating pose on the next bed. "We got caught in an explosion again?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so. The target escaped, but my men are busy tracking him down."
"Hm." Anakin slouched back on the pillows and unwillingly allowed himself to doze off. He really was tired . . .
Captain Rex stepped out of the gunship and nearly crashed into Commander Monnk, who was talking to a medic. "Sorry, Commander."
"Hey, Rex! Sunny here was just telling me both of the generals will be fine."
"No serious injuries," said the medic, checking his datapad. "They'll be out of medbay by noon tomorrow."
Rex paused to process this. "What happened this time?"
"An explosion," said Monnk.
Because with General Skywalker, it was always an explosion. Rex sighed, then stood to attention. "General Kenobi said you needed a secondary team for your upcoming mission. Torrent Company is ready to assist, sir."
Monnk smiled. "Glad to have you aboard, Captain."
Rex watched his men form up and head out of the hangar. "I should probably check in with the general before the mission."
Sunny shook his head. "He's sleeping."
"And we've still got an eighteen-hour flight before the mission starts," added Monnk.
Rex saluted, then headed for the barracks. On his way, he updated Kix about the situation and typed out a quick message to Cody. General Skywalker's been caught in an explosion. Again. No serious injuries.
The reply came thirty seconds later. Copy that. General Kenobi crash-landed last mission, so the pattern's still unbroken.
Rex paused outside the barrack doors. Next is getting captured, right?
Right. I've already mapped out three contingency plans for our next assignment.
What if General Skywalker's the one who's going to get captured?
There was a brief delay. Our mission starts before yours, so I'll keep you posted.
Rex entered the room and sat down on the nearest bunk. He was about to sign off his datapad when a thought occurred to him. He almost didn't send it to Cody, but – he really didn't get that many chances to pester the commander. . . Smirking, he leaned back and typed again. Careful, Cody. If we add recent occurrences into the pattern, it changes.
What are you talking about?
Has General Kenobi ever gotten amnesia?
This time the pause was very long indeed. Finally a new message popped up on the screen. Shut up, Rex.
Satisfied with his day's work, Rex tossed his datapad into his pack and placed it neatly at the foot of the bunk.
Anakin woke with a start. Something – someone – was moving stealthily around nearby. He pushed himself onto his elbows and peered at the floor. A clone medic was army-crawling along the med bay floor toward the supply closet.
Anakin raised his eyebrows. "Hey . ."
The trooper, impressively, jumped from a prone position to full attention in a single movement. "General," he whispered, glancing over his shoulder at the door.
"What's up?" Now Anakin was fully awake.
"Please, General, keep your voice down." The clone came over and glanced at the readouts on the side of Anakin's bed. "Sorry to have woken you."
"No, it's fine. You're Skip, aren't you?"
"Yes, sir." Skip turned to look at the door again.
Anakin, his curiosity roused, also looked at the door, but there was nothing to be seen. He yawned and sat up fully. "I don't suppose I can leave yet? I feel great."
Skip grinned. "Nice try, sir. General Fisto already failed to convince Sunny that he was fit to be cleared."
"Where is General Fisto, anyway?"
Skip checked his chrono. "Made a run for it ten minutes ago. Sunny probably found him already. He's got Monnk on his side."
"I – see. . ." Anakin did not see. He shook his head. "Well, carry on, I guess."
"Thank you, sir." Skip took one more look around before running across med bay and yanking open the supply closet. He rummaged around for a moment before withdrawing a piece of armor. "Ha. Thought he could hide it, did he?"
Skip set the vambrace on the nearest bed, pulled a paintbrush and a small tube of brown paint from his belt, and got to work.
Anakin wondered why he had to be so secretive about painting his armor. After all, the troopers of the Four Forty-Second were known for the elaborate designs they decorated their armor with.
Skip turned his head sideways to consider his work, then held it up. "What do you think, General?"
Anakin found himself blinking at a large smiley face. "Uhh . . ."
Skip's comm beeped twice. "He's on his way back!" he hissed, quickly putting the vambrace back in the closet.
Master Fisto's voice sounded from the next room. "I assure you, Sunny, there is no need for me to –"
"General, if you say that one more time, I swear I'll extend your stay."
Skip slammed the closet shut, dove across the room, and was busily and unnecessarily checking Anakin's vitals when Sunny entered the room, Master Fisto in tow.
"Did he just wake up?" Sunny asked, pointing the Jedi Master back to his bed.
"Yeah," Skip replied casually. "He wants to leave, too."
"You can in four hours," said Sunny, giving Anakin a friendly smile.
Anakin sighed loudly, but Sunny had turned away. He glanced around the room, then narrowed his eyes at Skip, who looked back, wearing an expression of wide-eyed innocence.
"Skip," said Sunny. "Do you have paint in your supply belt again?"
"No, sir!" Skip stood at attention, hands locked behind his back.
Anakin quietly reached up with the Force and slipped the paint and brush out of Skip's hands, maneuvering them under the bed.
Master Fisto noticed and grinned brightly.
"Skip . . ." Sunny stalked over to him.
"I don't!" Skip held his hands to either side. "What, you think I was painting your armor again? You told me you were tired of scrubbing paint off."
Sunny growled. "You have paint on your fingers."
". . . Oh."
Anakin watched with interest as Sunny marched over to the supply closet and located his vambrace. He stared down at the smile face for several long seconds, then turned to the offending trooper.
Skip cleared out of the room at a speed any jet trooper would envy.
Still holding the vambrace, Sunny stalked out, muttering under his breath.
"Another successful mission," said Kit Fisto gleefully.
"Uh," said Anakin. "You do this a lot?"
Kit Fisto leaned back against the wall, closed his eyes, and crossed his arms behind his head. "When I'm here. Skip manages every couple of days anyway, though."
Anakin leaned down, retrieved the paint and brush, and eyed the closet.
"I wouldn't," said the Jedi Master, eyes still closed. "Sunny has made good on his threats in the past, and he'll know one of us was guilty."
Anakin had no intention of spending extra time in med bay, but he was bored. He considered the problem from all angles. "Then it looks like we need someone else to blame it on."
Kit Fisto opened his eyes and blinked thoughtfully.
A truly terrifying smirk crossed his face.
Rex headed into the hangar and looked around until he located Crawl. The mechanic, still wearing his helmet, was tinkering with the engine of a badly damaged starfighter. One of Commander Monnk's troopers, who had painted his armor with an intricate design of loops and curls, leaned on the wing, keeping up a friendly, if mostly one-sided, conversation.
As Rex drew near, the trooper said, "So, are you a pilot too?"
"Just a mechanic." Crawl held up a section of torn wiring, looking over it almost absently before tossing it aside. Then he caught sight of Rex. "Captain?"
"How's that engine coming?" Rex asked. "Manage to destroy it yet?"
"It's – already destroyed, sir." Crawl paused. "I'm trying to fix it."
Rex tried to hold back his smile and failed. "I know, kid. General Skywalker's got a
job for you."
The other trooper hopped to his feet. "Hey, the generals are out of medbay?"
"Not yet." Rex took a moment to wish that he'd been sent to assist Wolffe's legion instead of Monnk's. Plo Koon would never plot with Anakin Skywalker. Rex wasn't so sure about General Fisto, though. He'd looked way too cheerful when Rex had left the room, not five minutes ago. . .
"They're bound to make another attempt," the trooper said carelessly. "General Fisto's never had someone to plot with before."
Rex turned to the clone trooper. "Name?"
"Twist, sir. Served with the Four Forty-Second for three months."
"You're coming with us," replied Rex. "You've got experience, and experience outranks everything."
"Hey, Crawl," said Anakin, gesturing excitedly. "I've got a little job for you. You're good at getting around unnoticed, right? I need you to bring us all the paint you can find, without Sunny noticing."
Crawl glanced sideways at Rex, who shrugged.
Anakin grinned. Rex was the cause of most of the craziness in the 501st – well, that wasn't strictly accurate, but he sure did encourage it. . .
"Yes, sir," said Crawl.
Anakin held up a small paint brush and twirled it between his fingers. "This isn't a life-and-death mission. We're just pranking the medic."
Twist turned to stare at him.
Rex rubbed his head. "That's – kind of a life-and-death mission."
"What?" Anakin sat upright. "We're not pranking Kix."
"Sir," said Twist. "Do you know why they call him Sunny?"
"No . . .?"
"Because he's really cheerful, all the time. Until he gets mad, and then he has a blazing hot temper."
Kit Fisto laughed. "Do not worry, Twist. We won't paint his armor this time."
Twist appeared mollified, until Anakin said, "Yeah, we got a much better idea."
Crawl might have been shy, but he was fast. Within five minutes, he had obtained, and successfully sneaked into the medbay, four cans of brown paint and a whole arsenal of brushes. He then vanished, back to his starfighter engine.
Rex, following the excellent example set by his mechanic, did not wait around to discover what the generals were up to. He washed his hands of the entire affair and went to attend a pre-mission briefing. Unfortunately, Monnk was very efficient, and the two of them soon had the whole thing mapped out.
"Right," said Monnk, shutting off the holomap. "Let's run this by the generals."
"Uh," said Rex. "They'll be released soon enough, Commander. We'll have time to go over it with them before the mission . . ."
With a knowing grin, Monnk led the way to the lift. "Better safe than sorry."
He wasn't talking about the mission.
Rex sighed, but followed. On the way down, he commed Kix. "Hey, Kix, are you busy right now?"
"Setting up triage in the hangar with Sunny," came the reply. "We'll be done in a few minutes. Why?"
". . . No reason."
"Okay." Kix hung up.
"No reason," parroted Monnk, strolling down the hall toward medbay. "You know, Rex, you're a really bad liar."
Cody had told him the same thing on multiple occasions, but Rex wasn't interested at the moment. "If Sunny and Kix aren't keeping an eye on medbay, who is?"
"Ah . . . that would be Skip. . ." Commander Monnk paused, glancing sharply toward the other end of the hall. "Twist! What are you sneaking around for?"
"I'm on double guard duty," said Twist with a shrug.
"Double guard duty?"
"Yes, sir. Sunny told me to keep the generals from escaping. General Fisto told me to make sure Sunny can't sneak up on him."
Monnk looked at Rex, who perceived his intent, with horror, half an instant before the commander spoke again. "Twist, we'll take it from here."
Twist saluted sharply, spun about, and headed back to the hangar.
Monnk marched up to medbay and into Sunny's office. Rex, following close on his heels, was brought up short when Monnk leaned an elbow on the doorway.
"General," he drawled, crossing one ankle over the other. "What in the name of the Republic do you think you're doing?"
"Ah, Commander. Captain." Kit Fisto gave them his signature beaming grin. "You're just in time."
Which did not, in any way, explain why Anakin was using the Force to levitate Skip, nor why the medic was painting a happy face on the office ceiling.
Rex observed the rest of the room with a kind of resigned indifference. Dozens of faces, each made up of two large eyes and a smile, covered the walls and the ceiling of the chief medic's office.
"You've done a very complete job," Monnk said, his tone and expression neutral.
"You're right." Anakin looked around proudly. "I'd say that looks pretty good. What do you think, Rex?"
Rex had no words. He was too busy trying to figure out how he was supposed to write out the report he'd have to send tomorrow about why the Four Forty-Second's senior medic had murdered both generals. And quite possibly the junior medic, as well.
Heck, maybe Sunny would just cut his losses and kill all five of them.
Skip tossed the paint can to Anakin, who lowered him back to the ground. "I can't believe you never thought of this before, Master Fisto."
Kit Fisto hummed thoughtfully, as though confused by this himself. "I must admit, Anakin, it was a very good idea."
"Sunny's on his way back," Monnk said.
Just like that, the two generals had whisked back into medbay. Rex looked through the door to see Anakin shoving the paint cans under General Fisto's pillow. General Fisto stuffed the paintbrushes under Anakin's mattress.
Skip rushed into the room, came to a halt with a quick skip – ah, that's how he'd gotten his name – and stood between them.
"We're all dead," he announced, accepting his fate cheerfully.
"Yeah, about that," said Anakin. "I just realized something. If I hadn't lifted you to paint the ceiling, I could blame it all on you."
"You could try," Skip retorted. "He'd figure it out anyway."
"It's too late now, at any rate," said General Fisto. "Fortunately, we have a mission very soon, so he can't keep us here much longer."
"Hey, Rex," said Anakin. "Could you move to one side? I can't wait to see Sunny's face when he comes in. . ."
Since Rex did not want to be in the line of fire, he obliged. Monnk mirrored him on the other side of the open doorway.
The sound of casual conversation drew closer.
"Kix is with him," said Rex.
There was a brief pause. "Oh," said Anakin. "That could be a problem."
The two medics entered the room. Kix's gaze was on his datapad, so he didn't notice anything until he walked into Sunny.
Sunny's expression did not change as he observed the large smile faces that decorated every inch of the empty walls and ceiling.
Kix, his eyes wide, looked from the room to Monnk to Rex.
Then, at precisely the same moment, the two medics' focus zeroed in on the medbay, and the guilty occupants thereof.
They stepped forward as one, completely ignoring the other two clones. Rex and Monnk waited in grim silence.
Sunny marched passed them, folded his arms, took a deep breath, and, in a voice that would have done any drill sergeant proud, roared, "SKIP! EXPLAIN YOURSELF!"
Before Skip could do more than open his mouth, Sunny continued. "WHAT possessed you – and you, General Fisto! – to go along with GENERAL SKYWALKER'S idea?"
Anakin yelped. "How'd you know?!"
Kix moved in threateningly. "He's a senior medic. We always know."
General Fisto looked vastly amused at the situation, and Rex wondered if he had any self-preservation instincts at all. At least General Skywalker had the sense to look a little terrified.
Quite suddenly, Sunny smiled. He looked at Kix, and they nodded decisively at each other. Sunny marched to the supply closet, pulled out a bucket and some sponges, and tossed them to Anakin.
"I'll let you out of medbay now, generals," he said. "On the condition that you stay in the office until it's absolutely clear of those faces. Skip, you too."
With a laugh, General Fisto moved to obey. Anakin looked sideways at where he'd hidden the paint, and Skip glanced at the paintbrushes' hiding place.
Sunny's patience lasted for an amazing two seconds. "GET GOING!"
As they scrambled into the office, Kix cleared his throat. "Just be glad Hardcase wasn't with them, Sunny," he said.
"Trust me," said Sunny. "I've heard stories. Commander, do you need something?"
"Just checking in," replied Monnk. He glanced over his shoulder at the rather surreal sight of a medic and two Jedi generals, all scrubbing diligently away. "Rex, I think you're right – we'll go over the plans with them later. . ."
Somehow maintaining his professional air, Monnk left the office.
Rex stayed. He had some administrative work to take care of, and that could be done from here. It might be safer for everyone.
A few minutes later, Rex checked for new communications. There were two. The first was from Cody. You should be in the clear. General Kenobi was captured by the locals. We're on our way to get him out now.
Good luck, Rex replied. Well, that meant he didn't have to worry about planning for a rescue mission this time around.
The second communication was from Jesse, and had just arrived. The guys want to know if we should check on Commander Monnk.
Rex blinked. He just left here.
Yes, sir. He's in an empty briefing room, laughing hysterically.
"Sunny," said Rex. "Monnk's laughing hysterically. He might be on the verge of a nervous breakdown."
"Nah, he'll be fine." Sunny folded another bandage. "I think."
He'll be fine, Rex wrote back.
What happened?
Ask Kix.
Rex went back to viewing reports, ignoring the bickering from the three in the next room. He ignored it until it stopped, and then he glanced up. Kix and Sunny had left some time ago, heading for the cargo bay to get a new supply of bacta.
Anakin slipped into the room, grinned at Rex, retrieved the paint and brushes, and hurried back to the office.
After a moment of disbelief, Rex put away his datapad and followed.
The walls were spotless. General Fisto was balanced precariously, one foot on the back of a chair and one on the wall as he scrubbed at the ceiling. Skip knelt near the desk, holding a trooper helmet. As Rex watched, Anakin handed Skip the paint.
Jesse walked in. "General?"
Anakin tossed him a brush without looking. "Jesse, great. You do his gauntlets, I'll do the vambraces."
"What?!"
Skip held up the helmet, already covered in tiny smile faces. "It's for Sunny."
"Okay." Jesse shrugged and got to work.
Rex didn't say anything for a long moment. Finally, he took out his datapad and messaged Cody. You won't believe what's going on over here.
General Fisto finished cleaning the ceiling and disappeared.
Cody replied a few moments later. We've retrieved the general and are returning to the Negotiator. Do I even want to know?
Rex considered. Probably not. . . I'll tell you once we're back on base.
Copy that.
General Fisto came out of medbay, a serene smile on his countenance. Rex looked at him suspiciously, but the Nautolan only said, "We should leave now, Anakin. We need to be in the gunships in ten minutes."
"Okay, we just finished." Anakin neatly positioned the vambraces beside the gauntlets and helmet. "You know, Skip, I like this quick-drying paint."
"Yeah." Skip hopped to his feet. "He'll never have time to wash this off before suiting up for the mission."
"Wait," said Jesse suspiciously. "He didn't know we were doing this?"
General Fisto laughed and waltzed out of the room. Anakin shoved the paint into Skip's hands. "Okay, get this put away and then get to the gunships."
Skip saluted and left.
Jesse still looked like he was ten steps behind. "General . . ."
"Yeah?" Anakin glanced over his shoulder on his way out the door. "Hey, Rex, you coming or what?"
He vanished.
Jesse blinked after him.
Rex moved to the medbay door and looked in. A single, enormous smile face was painted over the storage closet doors. Jesse peered over his shoulder. "Captain, did General Fisto do that?"
Rex just looked at him. "Yeah."
They headed for the hangar bay in silence and got onto the gunship. Crash spoke through the ship's speaker system. "Hang on, guys, this'll be a little bumpy."
As they took off, Rex looked over his men. "Be careful out there. You really don't want to end up in medbay," he said enigmatically. "Not today."
General Skywalker snorted with laughter.
When they reached the drop point, the doors sprang open. General Skywalker hopped out without looking and crashed directly into Sunny, who had his helmet tucked under one arm. He was, indeed, wearing the gauntlets and vambraces, and he had a look in his eyes that could have made an ARC back down. Not General Skywalker, though.
"Hey, Sunny," he said.
"General." Sunny's voice was oddly serene. "You'd better hope you don't get injured out there today."
He put his helmet on and went to join the Commander. Monnk glanced at him and did a double-take, but wisely said nothing. Rex observed that General Fisto and Skip had positioned themselves across the platoon from the medic.
Fives and Echo joined Rex. "Ready to go, sir!" said Echo enthusiastically.
"Yeah," said Fives. "We'll finish this mission in no time."
Rex nodded to them and fell in behind General Skywalker. He didn't dare speak. His mind kept returning to the way Kix and Sunny had looked when they first walked in.
Monnk opened a private channel to his helmet. "You realize I am going to have to separate my medics for the next week," he said.
Rex snorted. "You think you've got a problem. I'm going to have to keep General Skywalker from giving the rest of the guys any ideas."
Monnk waved his men forward. "Yeah, and you've got a padawan to deal with."
"Honestly, I'm more worried about General Fisto talking to General Kenobi. . ."
The idea was too horrible to contemplate.
Kix is listed as a field medic on Wookiepedia, but because he is also the only medic we see in the 501st, I decided to make him the senior medic. :)
Who should meet up (and wreak havoc) with the 501st next: Plo Koon and Wolffe, Luminara Unduli and Gree, or Aayla Secura and Bly? :)
