Wrench reclined back on his chair at his office thinking back over the past week since their fight with Hardy. It was already nighttime so he could finally reminisce, having finished the most pressing tasks for the day.
After leaving Bellnahgo, they had managed to make it back to base and get Eila into a bacta tank. They were really lucky with that. The medical facilities before were not equipped for serious injuries or complex surgeries. They relied on the Grand Republic Medical Facility for that since it was just going through the Gate and they'd be there within minutes. The recent increase in supplies and improvements to their facilities for their indefinite stay literally saved her life.
It also helped out Lelei, Zipper, and Fordo as well. Lelei was left with a cast but her hand was already well on its way to being completely healed with the proper physiotherapy and magic to slowly bring back her fine motor skills. Although, Rory would be confused at the light silver tips Lelei suddenly had in her hair. Wrench remembered Rory grumbling at what game Hardy was playing. With Zipper, he got a fractured sternum and was simply given time off to heal along with some painkillers. As for Fordo, the manner in which his forearm was crushed unfortunately necessitated amputation. But with the improved facilities, he was immediately given a mechanical prosthetic and was already back on duty within hours of his operation, unlike Duran, who had to wait for his replacement when he was brought to them. Although, Fordo would return to a team that was feeling rather gutted at the loss of their fellow brothers.
However, while Fordo took his losses with professional candor and insisted that Cabby, Alloy, Hoot, and Ray get the credit they deserved for their service, Eila was brought back to Coruscant in her current state at the request of the Order. Wrench believed they were just taking precautions to make sure she was mentally fit after having her mind invaded like they were with Vania and her ordeal, but what happened during her transfer still bothered him.
A day after their fight with Hardy…
"Here you go, Master Fisto." The base doctor said as he handed the Nautolan Jedi a signed datapad while Eila's bacta tank moved towards the airspeeder transport.
"Thank you, doctor." Fisto responded. He turned to Wrench, "Don't worry, Commander. She'll be back soon."
Wrench merely nodded to him. But as they began to load the tank onto the airspeeder, Wrench called on them to stop.
"She's…awake?" He called out as he approached the tank and saw Eila with her eyes wide open, staring directly at him, and seemed to be reaching a hand out to him.
"What? That can't be right. We just renewed the sedative solution for the tank." The doctor explained.
While he returned the gesture of reaching out his hand and placing it on the tank, Wrench suddenly began to feel dizzy, "Wha—What the?"
"Commander?" Fisto called.
Wrench put his hands to his head. The onset of a sudden and splitting headache caught him by surprise. As he felt the veins in his head pulsate, he saw flashes of battles between clones, the Jedi, and droids. Some of the places looked familiar as places that had been plastered all over the HoloNet. Oddly, there would be flashes where it seemed the clones were shooting at the Jedi. And then a number began to appear over and over again, quickly followed by another sequence of numbers.
As quickly as it came, the headache subsided at the same time that he noticed Eila's eyes flicker closed as the doctor adjusted some settings on the bacta tank. She was promptly under sedation again. The doctor would mumble that she shouldn't exert herself in any way.
"Commander?" Fisto called again. "Would you like to come with us?"
"Uhh, no. No need, General." Wrench said, shaking his head lightly.
Fisto then wondered, "Did you see something, Commander?"
"Y—Yes, General. I think—I think I saw the battles on Mygeeto and Felucia, along with a few other places I don't recognize. And then I kept seeing…a five? It was followed by a bunch of eights, ones, and zeroes."
"Hmm, it seems that General Deova is trying to tell you something."
"Maybe, General Fisto. But I don't get any of it."
"Visions rarely give a straightforward answer, Commander. However, the numbers must have significance if they were projected with such prominence to the battles in the Outer Rim."
"Mind helping me understand them, General?"
"I do not mind. But I do have other matters to attend to on Coruscant. You might not hear from me for some time. Would you be fine with waiting?"
"Yes, General. That would be fine, any little bit helps."
Fisto nodded but continued, "Meditate on those numbers, Commander. General Deova showed them to you and to you only. They may be relevant to you specifically."
Wrench returned the nod. Satisfied, Fisto continued in having Eila's bacta tank loaded. Once aboard, the airspeeder quickly disappeared into the darkness of the Gate just as another shipment of supplies and equipment came through in the opposite direction.
Present…
Shaking his head in remembering the incident and the fact that General Fisto still hadn't contacted him yet, he considered more present concerns.
The remaining men of RT3 were still in a sullen mood. While he wasn't too concerned about Fordo, he was concerned for the others who became more withdrawn. Lelei, Tuka, Rory, and Yao had approached him on how to brighten their spirits but it seems Fordo was ahead of them. Fordo began requesting missions to simply keep his men occupied with doing something other than sulking in which Fordo would report that the men's mood was slowly improving after every mission. Wrench had made a fuss that they shouldn't be leaving on missions without, unfortunately, replacements for Cabby, Alloy, Ray, and Hoot, but he would end up agreeing with Fordo's argument that getting replacements this soon would only breed animosity towards them by the others. Fordo just felt that it wasn't the right time.
However, while Fordo was taking the initiative to resolve that concern for Wrench, the public relations nightmare resulting from their battle with Hardy was an ongoing issue.
The people of Bellnahgo were quick to spread the news of their actions.
While the villages and towns that they've already established relationships with were understanding of the details in their meeting with Hardy, usually with Rory there to back them up in helping put out the PR fire, the Empire elsewhere felt differently. Suddenly, the Imperial Capital and Pina and Molt in particular, were inundated with Hardy worshipers protesting against the treaty with the Republic claiming that they were a heretical people and calling for a crusade.
They used the point that the Republic was bringing in technological and scientific advancements through the Gate which they argued was corrupting the moral fiber of the Empire and opposed by all the gods of the Special Region. Luckily, this argument wasn't gaining as much traction as they would have hoped since Eila had decided early on to keep those advancements within the Republic's sphere of influence due to the attempts at theft from the Empire's spies early on. Additionally, the information the Empire was receiving as per the treaty for such advancements was also just a bunch of printed scrolls transcribed from holobooks that were limited to communications technology and medical advancements that the Empire's scholars couldn't really grasp unless someone more knowledgeable was there to give them some context in speeding up their understanding. Having someone doing that for them wasn't written in the treaty so those scholars were really on their own in figuring out the documents given to them. The best the worshippers could do was merely convince some of the scholars to burn the scrolls which wasn't really much of a problem for the Republic since they're easily replaceable and there were other scholars who could care less of what the worshippers thought. The treaty was also hampering the worshippers' efforts to tempt more of the populace into a religious fervor since the members of the Empire's expeditionary force were being repatriated after every small trade the Empire gave to the Republic.
They would try some fear mongering that there would eventually be a planetary invasion with Republic ships descending from the heavens given all the fantastical stories that flew around since the battles at Alnus and Italica. Although, not everyone took the stories seriously since many hadn't even seen a LAAT, let alone a Venator. Still, the idea of a planetary invasion is even more preposterous when it was finally determined the Special Region was on a planet in an entirely different galaxy that was several billion light years from home. No way a Republic fleet was going to risk crossing the uncharted intergalactic void with no possibility of resupply, maintenance, or rescue if things went wrong. Frankly, the Republic already tried an expedition into intergalactic space prior to the Clone Wars and it ended with the ship never being heard from again having likely been destroyed by some uncharted gravity well, geomagnetic anomaly, or while attempting to break through the 'Galactic Barrier' that supposedly surrounded the galaxy.
However in spite of those setbacks to their agenda, the testimonies the worshippers gave that they attacked a god and shot at civilians, which was twisted that they slaughtered civilians just for the hell of it and that it was Hardy who was attacked first, still riled up Hardy worshipers across the continent. There was also a growing animosity between Hardy and Emroy worshippers with concern to Rory and her actions with one side declaring her a traitor to the gods while the other side believes her actions to be justified and beyond human understanding.
In a meeting Wrench had with Pina through the holoprojector after the news spread, she worried that the animosity between Hardy and Emroy worshipers could easily spill onto the other sects and result in a religious civil war within the Empire. Even before the Republic arrived, the various sects usually had some blatant hostility towards each other since they liked to prop-up their preferred god as the best among all the others, including that the sects usually enjoyed murdering each other's members or even their own for some perceived gain with their god. With these events, it was beginning to look like to Wrench that Hardy's goals for the Empire and the Republic would be accomplished if the divide persists.
If civil war erupts, the Empire is destroyed from within. Without the Empire, there wouldn't really be a need for the Republic to stay. Staying for resources? There were still plenty of planets back home for that. The humanitarian reason? Dependent on the Senate's mood and that could easily change, especially since the Outer Rim Sieges are still suffering from manpower shortages despite the optimistic outlooks of the campaigns so far. Without the Empire, there would also be no one to pay back the cost of the Uscru incident so it was likely the Senate would declare the place a lost cause and leave to cut its losses.
If Pina and her father instead capitulate to the demands of the followers and start a war, then the Republic destroys the Empire. But with religious fanaticism backing the fight, the Republic will likely take on more casualties than before. If the stories concerning some of the spats the religious sects had gone through in the past are to be believed, suicidal charges are the lightest thing they might ever see. Additionally, even if the casualty numbers turn out to be minuscule in comparison to the casualty figures coming up in the Outer Rim, it could still be enough to erode the political will of the Senate to stay.
Of course, outside Wrench's purview, with the kyber crystals and regardless if the Empire fell to a civil or retaliatory war, it would just make it that much easier for Palpatine to strip the planet since there would be no major power to coordinate any sort of resistance, even a futile one just to waste time.
Despite Wrench speculating on the possibilities of their future in the Special Region, his recent interactions with the Jedi Order and the Senate made the chances of them leaving anytime soon very unlikely.
Shortly after Eila's transfer, he reported the situation to the Jedi Order and Senate.
The Order was initially concerned.
Eila's casual possession by Hardy made the Order worry about the powers of the gods and the warning given about the Gate remaining open for too long leading to wide scale destruction for both worlds was alarming. But since Hardy left Eila once she was sufficiently wounded, it was suggested that there could be a possible danger for a god to remain in a dying body. And with no proof of earthquakes on Coruscant, the Order's concerns would be further abated for them by the Chancellor and the Senate. Some Senators had framed the situation that they had invested too much into the Special Region campaign to pull out now while the other Senators and Palpatine continued to throw up the humanitarian perspective in continuing to help the people despite the risks. Ultimately, the Order would continue to subscribe to the humanitarian perspective and the Order would agree with the Senate that Hardy's warning was probably just a bluff. Although, the Order would suggest on simply keeping an eye on Corsucant's planetary management systems just in case.
However unknown to Wrench and to the Senate except for Palpatine, the Jedi Council was still concerned in continuing to protect the kyber crystals from the Sith. It was quietly agreed in the Council that while the closure of the Gate would be the surest way of keeping the kyber crystals away from the Sith, there was some mumbling in initiating studies into the neutral nature of the crystals, possible applications in lightsaber construction for Padawans, and their connection to the gods of the Special Region.
Similarly, Palpatine was concerned of the Gate closing prematurely before he could take the plant's crystals due to Hardy's warning even if it was a bluff. As such, he was quietly goading the Senators to approve sending more equipment for the task. To not arouse suspicion, equipment that is clearly meant for mining the crystals would be mixed in with others that were more valuable to the long term sustainability of the base. Refineries and facilities vital to the overall maintenance of the Republic's equipment were quickly being established including survey droids to find resources such as ores or fuels useful to potential construction projects whether on the planet or some of the other star systems close by. Obviously, the survey droids were to scout kyber crystal deposits as well. Palpatine intended for the base to be completely self-sufficient so that its only concern would be to send the crystals back to Coruscant, instead of worrying about supplies such as replacement parts to a drill. It could also be possible some time down the road in building a certain battlestation on the other side, just to ensure his reach was virtually everywhere.
As Wrench considered that the Senate and Jedi Order intended to milk the Special Region for all that it's worth since there had also been increases in both civilian support staff and trooper numbers, the vision from Eila came crawling back to the forefront of his mind. It was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore even as he busied himself with other things. The images and numbers would spontaneously come up sometimes when he was in the middle of something. Still, despite the distractions it was presenting, he needed some early sleep.
Elsewhere, Tyuule quietly continued eating her dinner in her cell. Despite expecting to be treated like dirt and likely be executed for her role in trying to destabilize the Empire, her imprisonment had been quite different.
Initially, she could only think of escape and stewed in her cell despising the Republic for leaking all of the information regarding her plans along with Zorzal's in attempting to restart the war which would ensure the Empire's downfall. It convinced a good chunk of the Empire to side with the Republic's information, though there were still a decent number of people in the Imperial Senate and military who scoffed at the evidence and questioned its veracity.
In thinking of escape, she expected Bouro to come and get her out, but she remembered that she merely hired Bouro for his reputation in infiltration, assassinations, and intelligence gathering. He wasn't exactly a friend since his relationship to her was contingent on his pay, which was whatever she could scrounge up when Zorzal wasn't around. When she couldn't salvage or steal any kind of currency, she sometimes paid, much to her displeasure, with her body. She would always wash herself thoroughly whenever Bouro 'collected' this payment. But after a while in wishing for rescue, she laughed up a storm that got the guards constantly banging on her door for her to shut up. Once her giggles ended, she realized that Bouro was really only in it for the money or the 'payments' and merely enjoyed perpetuating the chaos she planned out and upon further study, actually benefited him more than her since his tribe held a seat in the Imperial court that was gaining significant influence due to all the nobles lost fighting the Republic. Why would there be any honor in counting on such scum for a rescue?
Although unknown to her, Bouro wasn't really thinking of a rescue at all since he and all of his compatriots had already been eliminated at Pina's request. The clone commandos were tasked with finding out where he fled due to his role in the plot and through the network of contacts the commandos had developed in Akusho, they found his tribe's encampment bordering the Inland Sea and the Mountain Range of Ice and Snow. Bouro and his friends had intended to simply forget the Empire and run away somewhere where they couldn't be found because of all the information released to the public detailing their involvement with Tyuule. They were planning to quietly take over the nascent civilizations beyond the frontier of the Western Desert and return to the Empire on a more powerful footing since they had lost their seat in the court. Unfortunately for them, they wouldn't know what hit them when the commandos directed a squadron of Y-Wings to bomb their encampment into oblivion. The few survivors to make it out of the bombing scattered into the wilderness with some being hunted down by the commandos since they had potential skills that might revive the tribe. Eliminating them promptly snuffed that possibility out.
After giving up on Bouro performing an unlikely rescue, Tyuule would be surprised at the constant visits Pina made to her cell. She hadn't really considered Pina to amount to much of anything in the Empire. She thought of Pina as a non-entity in the royal hierarchy since she was born from a rather scandalous relationship between Molt and Countess Nell, a concubine. Zorzal and Diablo had better chances of becoming leaders in the Empire that she could exploit. Ultimately, Pina's visits amounted to attempts in getting answers to her questions that would likewise surprise Tyuule.
"What do you remember of the history of the Warrior Bunnies?"
"What were your people like?"
"Do you know what happened to your people after what my bro—Prince Zorzal did?"
"Do you miss your homeland?"
Tyuule would try to maintain an air of indifference and silence throughout all of their 'sessions' as she still hated the Empire but she sometimes felt that facade slip and considered answering honestly and viciously.
Eventually, the questions started to go towards more general concerns that were usually associated with the Empire. Tyuule didn't understand why Pina was asking her, of all people, for answers to the troubles of the Empire, but she suspected that this was a way for Pina to vent her frustrations of leading it even though Emperor Molt at this point, was sufficiently well enough to retake the reins of the throne again.
But one question Tyuule was asked that finally got her talking, quite angrily towards Pina, was, "How can the Empire change for the better?"
Thinking back on it as she finished the last bits of her dinner, Tyuule vividly remembered her yelling at Pina that got the guards in the cell with her rather defensive.
A few weeks after Zorzal's coup…
"Change? Change?! For the better?!" Tyuule yelled. "You! You, Princess Pina Co Lada, want to know how the Empire can change?!" She laughed derisively at the audacity of Pina to ask such a question.
Pina would wave away her guards at the sudden hostile tone she took that got them worried.
"Why are you thinking about change now?! Why didn't you bother changing when it would have made a difference to so many former nations now flying the Imperial flag?! Many of those former nations were interested in becoming a trading partner to the Empire, but in your greed you just subjugated them. And then there's your lust for slaves. My people were warriors and we were content with the lives we lived. We lived for the fight. To fight and die with honor against worthy adversaries. But then the Empire came, slaughtered us and then enslaved the rest. The enslavement was the worst part because it stripped us of everything! In a single war, you not only took us away from our homeland; you separated us from our families, our friends, or mates, and you destroyed centuries of our culture!"
Tyuule would be reminded of the brutality of that war with much of it having been glossed over or romanticized to the Imperial public. In almost every battle and skirmish against the Empire, they made a point of killing every single warrior bunny. It was justified to an extent as the warrior bunny culture encouraged them to fight to their last breath. But the Empire's actions would be unjustified whenever they would take a village or settlement filled with civilians. The places would be burned to the ground which Tyuule and her compatriots were prepared for but it was unnerving to her, and still is unnerving, when they would arrive too late and be greeted with children hanging from nearby trees and the open mass graves surrounding the burnt village or settlement as some kind of sick display to them. It was an effort by the Empire to not only destroy them physically in killing potential soldiers or resistance fighters but also to crush their fighting spirit…and it worked.
"And then the survivors who managed to run were then fed lies by that pig of a brother you have!"
"Lies?" Pina questioned. She would be reminded of Eila asking her about how well she knew Tyuule. She still felt embarrassed that she had taken her brother's story of events concerning Tyuule at his word and had thought of her as a traitor to her own people for it.
"I'm sure your brother told you. That I sold myself to him to save my own skin?!" Tyuule scoffed in disgust.
"Ha! I gave myself up to him because I thought I was saving my people from destruction! To end a war that was destroying my people in every way possible. To give them some peace! He—he promised peace! But he—he killed them all anyway."
She paused in being reminded that there used to be up to a million of them before the war but now, she guessed that there were probably a few thousand of them left scattered across the continent, living without an identity and getting by as prostitutes or slaves. She doubted many of them would be lucky enough to end up with someone like Count Formal, who she knew treats his maids and attendants with respect, even though many of Formal's maids and attendants would still be defined as slaves in the eyes of the law.
"I only figured out what happened to my people when I had to kill one of my own because she tried to assassinate me. She didn't even try to go for Zorzal when she got in. She spat at me for being a coward and a whore for 'siding with the enemy' in destroying our people. Carrying on the dying wishes of a family she lost. And then died cursing that I would live the rest of my life in torment and die alone. That pig had a good laugh at my expense with her words."
Pina turned her head away slightly silently recollecting the incident Tyuule referred to.
It was a month after the conclusion of the war between the Empire and the warrior bunnies. A single warrior bunny had managed to slip past all the guards and get into Zorzal's room while he was sleeping with Tyuule. The incident was ultimately portrayed as an assassination attempt on Zorzal for his role in the war. It was even touted that it was he who killed the 'extremely dangerous and skilled' assassin even though the corpse of the assassin that was presented as proof was clearly someone who was barely a teenager. Hardly enough time for one to be truly skilled and dangerous in being a professional assassin. The incident would be quietly swept under the rug soon after when a few Senators began to question the effectiveness of the Palace's guards who had admittedly gotten lax since the Imperial Capital hasn't been a battleground in the past 400 years. But its effect was far reaching afterwards as quite a good number of warrior bunny slaves were executed on what looked to be now, completely made up charges against the Empire, to serve as an example to the others that any opposition will be dealt with harshly.
"But asking for how to change now, Princess!" Tyuule continued with a few laughs thrown in, "Is it because this…Republic that came through the Gate, has you in a vise?" She gave a laugh, "Ha! Rather hard to fight back against someone who can destroy you in every way, isn't it?!"
"An enemy that can kill you before you get near them?!" She had caught wind of the stories on the fields of Alnus.
"An enemy that rains death from the sky?!" She had heard of Italica.
"An enemy that's relentless?!" She knew of all the skirmishes after Alnus and Italica during the Empire's scorched earth phase which the frontline commanders realized was a useless tactic since the Republic kept advancing anyway.
The stories had brought her some glee in the roles now being reversed since the Empire's tactics in fighting her people were similar in a way, just with a bow and arrow, trebuchets, and lots of cavalry instead of the advanced technology the Republic has.
She saw Pina's saddened expression and coldly told her, "Now you know how my people felt…and you deserve every bit of it."
Present…
Giving away her tray to the guard, Tyuule eventually understood the purpose of Pina's visits. The visits weren't for Pina to vent her frustrations of leading the Empire, but to gain insight into Tyuule's grievances and try to make some changes. As such, Pina's visits to her after her rant against the Empire would become more infrequent as time went on as she began to answer Pina's questions. Some were again directed at Tyuule's background but most dealt with the fairly bloody history the Empire had racked up in subjugating their neighbors and finding ways to make slow, but gradual changes in reconciliation.
In answering the questions, Tyuule began to notice changes in her situation as her imprisonment slowly improved. Small scale changes to be sure since it seemed to be only for her, but it got her beginning to wonder if Pina sincerely does want the Empire to change for the better. The food she was given at meal times was no longer just a slurry but was something proper. It wasn't anything really fancy but a small piece of chicken with some vegetables and a small loaf of bread was definitely better than a bowl of goop with pieces she hoped was meat. Her dingy cot was also changed to something more comfortable. Not a full on mattress but bedding that was still better than before. She was even given time to wander outside for fresh air and see the sun but still under the supervision of the prison guards.
'Does she mean it?'
'Does she mean it?'
'Does she really mean it?'
This was a constant recurring question in Tyuule's head on the changes. While her own situation was improving, she didn't have eyes or ears outside anymore to give updates if this was something truly happening.
She had been slighted before by 'promises' and 'greater good' arguments. She didn't want to experience another betrayal again. But based on her interactions with Pina, it was looking to be genuine. She still hates the Empire for what it did to her people but if Pina continues along her path to reformation, maybe she can at least put her hate to rest. She felt that she might, with time, be able to forgive the Empire, but she will never forget what it has done.
After sitting in silence for another hour continuing to wonder on her recurring question as Pina hadn't hinted at giving her a book or something to occupy her time, the guards finally called for her and the other prisoners to sleep. The prison block she was in was crammed to capacity but most of the inmates were usually there for other crimes unrelated to her or Zorzal's coup. She guessed Pina would have proceeded to arrest people with close ties to her or Zorzal who supported their agendas in an effort to snuff out civil war after the information on them was released. She suspected Pina had separated anybody who knew her or Zorzal in the prison to prevent any form of internal collaboration that could lead to a prison break or giving instructions to the people supporting them outside who had managed to slip past Pina's fingers.
Flushing away her thoughts so she could sleep, Tyuule began to doze off.
In what only felt like six hours of sleep, Tyuule awoke to the sound of footsteps. Having heightened hearing had its disadvantages but the footsteps were a little too loud to be normal at night. The guards were at least courteous enough to minimize the sound of their steps at night. Walking over to the small viewport on her cell door, she could see the guards, marching out of the prison block in unison. It didn't make any sense to her. If it was a guard shift rotation, they wouldn't do it altogether at the same time in the first place, in addition to having stoic looks on their faces. The sound of the guards leaving attracted the attention of the other prisoners that got them murmuring to each other.
"Hey, where they going?" A prisoner questioned.
"Who gives a shit?" Another answered.
"How about you all go back to sleep! Geez!" Another one yelled.
Once the guards were out of Tyuule's narrow field of vision, it was quiet again and some of the prisoners did go back to their beds at what was a bizarre but an otherwise insignificant event. Suddenly, she heard a clanking sound that emanated throughout the prison block. All of the prison doors had unlocked themselves. Again, the prisoners were murmuring among themselves at what this was until one prisoner decided to test his door and pushed against it. The door swung open and the prisoner was overjoyed.
"Holy shit!" He called, before immediately sprinting towards the exit.
Seeing their fellow prisoner run out, the others quickly followed and the prison block was suddenly full of prisoners running out for the exits. Confused at what was happening, Tyuule backed away from the door and sat on her bed. She began pondering over the guards bizarre behavior and why all the doors unlocked. Escape had become a secondary concern to her as she also wondered if it was some sort of elaborate trap. But she wouldn't have much time to think it over as a small group of prisoners had gathered outside her door.
"Hey, it's that traitor."
"Yeah, she is. Hmm? This is the first time I've gotten a good look at her and she's just…uhh!"
"Yeah! That Prince really knows how to pick'em. How bout it, fellas? How bout giving the traitor what she 'deserves', huh?"
Tyuule could see where this was going as the group gained some distasteful smiles on their faces and opened the door. Tyuule merely smirked. She may have been out of practice due to being a slave for a long time but she was still from a proud line of warrior bunny queens who knew exactly how to fight 'overly aggressive' men.
Wrench woke up to the sound of his holoprojector going off. He groaned to the sound and shifted over to see what time it was from the alarm on his nightstand. Sighing at the early morning hour and the fact that it felt like he got very little actual sleep, he sat up on his bed and activated the holoprojector.
"What is it, trooper?"
"Sorry to disturb you Commander, but we're receiving an urgent transmission from Lancer Squad, sir."
"Lancer? Is the Gene—" He quickly remembered that Eila wasn't with them at the moment.
Sighing, he continued, "Redirect the transmission to my quarters."
The trooper responded affirmatively and the image changed from the trooper to Click.
"What's the situation, Click?"
"There's been a breakout at the Empire's main prison facility just outside the Imperial Capital, Commander."
"A prison break?" Shaking his head lightly with a slight yawn, "How—How is that our problem?"
"Well, sir…Prince Zorzal is apparently among the escapees along with a good chunk of his supporters."
This got Wrench's attention immediately, "Zorzal?! How did he get out?"
"Unknown, sir. The Imperials are still in the middle of regaining control of the facility."
"Can you track him?"
"Unfortunately, we got the news too late from one of our contacts, so we can't track him with all the commotion going on right now. But, we think we know where he's going."
"Oh?"
"Before the Prince was put out of business, he would travel to an Imperial stronghold a ways from here." Click would disappear to show a map with a red dot.
He continued, "Conducting recon on the stronghold was tricky since it was in the middle of an open field. Too easy to get noticed. But some high altitude recon flights by Koll's pilots showed that there were sizable enemy formations around the place."
Wrench knew of this intelligence prior to Zorzal's coup. But after putting Zorzal in jail, that stronghold proved to be inconsequential. Further recon flights after the coup showed the army around the place decreased in numbers since it was assumed to be leaderless after putting Zorzal away. Now it seemed that the place was of consequence again.
"Reuniting and rebuilding his forces again, huh?" Wrench wondered aloud.
"Sir?"
Wrench quickly answered, "Thanks for the information, Click. Continue your operations; we'll deal with Zorzal on our end."
With Click responding affirmatively, Wrench switched the holoprojector to begin calling Pina if she had heard of Zorzal's escape. Seeing her also awake in her nightgown, he quickly asked, "Princess, have you been informed…"
She finished his sentence, "That Zorzal has escaped? Yes. Bozes just informed me."
"We have an idea where he might be going. Transmitting the location now." Fiddling a bit with the holoprojector, he sent the location.
Pina examined the location closely and sighed, "So he's chosen that place."
"Princess?"
"It's Foulke, a fortress just outside the city of Telta. It was his primary base during the warrior bunnies campaign."
"Do you know its layout? We can formulate a plan to recapture Zorzal."
Pina paused at Wrench's offer of assistance before answering, "Actually Commander, do you mind if I handle this situation? I would like to bring in my brother this time if you don't mind."
Wrench quickly thought that Pina should have the responsibility of bringing Zorzal in as it might give a boost to her legitimacy in being the favored pick for the throne now that Zorzal was disowned by Molt and her other brother, Diablo, is now seen as ineffectual for choosing to run away during the coup, so he answered, "Very well, Princess."
She nodded and continued, "Please inform General Deova that I would like any further intelligence you may have on Zorzal."
He paused for a moment and answered, "Sure…good night, Princess."
Once he shut off the holoprojector, Wrench laid back down to go back to sleep. Although, he would find it difficult as he had an unsettling feeling that things were probably going to get hectic again. Although, it was a feeling that wasn't just based around Zorzal's escape but something more existential. It probably had something to do with the same two sets of numbers popping up in his head ever so often that sequenced themselves more clearly now.
'5555, 8108…'
He quietly thought on those two sets as they continued to bother his thoughts. He wondered if it was a hypnotic suggestion placed by her.
'Eila…what do the numbers mean?'
Sighing, he tried to go to sleep again but the early morning call and the numbers stopped him from trying to doze off. Getting up and wanting to put an end to its annoyance, he went to his desk and opened up the computer terminal. Typing in the numbers, he tried to match them to anything within the Republic military. Unfortunately, there were hundreds of thousands of results that have the numbers used in some combination or by themselves, whether they were the serial numbers on a weapon, the reference number of a report, or the registration of a ship. Scrolling through the results and finding nothing that stood out, Wrench tried to think of a way to narrow the results.
'Maybe, mission reports?'
Focusing on mission reports, it also proved to be useless as nothing stood out as particularly alarming for Eila to leave a message that would keep him up at night. After spending an hour reading through mission reports, a thought occurred to him as he finished reading through one.
'CT-8108 "Star", CT-9227 "Cobalt". Current status: Killed in action. Cause of death, captured and executed by local militia sympathetic to the Separatists…wait a minute. Trooper numbers…'
Narrowing the results to only specify clone trooper identification numbers, he finally found what he needed to see.
'CT-5555 "Fives". Former ARC trooper. Current status: Deceased. Cause of death, shot by Coruscant Guard when subject showed hostile intent to use a blaster during arrest.'
'What am I supposed to be looking for with him?' He thought.
Looking over the trooper's biographical data, he was thoroughly impressed by the man's service record from his first action on the Rishi Moon station, the defence of Kamino, the mission to Lola Sayu, and especially, taking down Krell on Umbara.
Wrench continued to be impressed as to be promoted to a fully-fledged ARC trooper was an exceptionally rare thing since for much of the ARC program's existence, you quite literally have to be born into it since ARC troopers come with certain modifications to their genetics, just like how it is with the clone commandos. The closest the rank and file clone trooper can get to being an ARC without being genetically modified to be one was to be trained by them, much like Wrench and his fellow clone commanders and captains who underwent the ARC training program just prior to the start of the war by virtue that they were skilled enough to be commanders and captains in the first place.
Still, he finally came across the last report filed about Fives concerning the circumstances of his death. Opening up the file, it showed the image of another trooper labelled 'Tup', an image of a Mikkian labelled 'Tiplar', and a brain scan that came from Tup. Eventually, he came across an oral report by Dr. Nala Se explaining that the cause of Fives' death was a malfunction of his inhibitor chip and was the accepted explanation to the Senate and Jedi Council, but noted that a grievance report was filed by CT-7567, who he recognized as Captain Rex of the 501st, apparently disputing the conclusions of the investigations regarding Fives.
Wrench was surprised by the revelation. He had never heard that they had inhibitor chips in their heads but apparently, it was to stifle their more violent tendencies. He somewhat felt that the chips were justified in that regard since there were multiple occasions he wanted to punch Krell in the face back when he was still in command. However, Wrench shook it off as he felt that his self-control was more out of not wanting to die a pointless death to the bastard. Living and ultimately outlasting Krell has proved to be a better way of getting the satisfaction he wanted. Turning his thoughts back to the report, he tried to access the grievance report filed by Captain Rex.
'What the…it's sealed.' He then read who could access it, 'For senior Republic military officers and the Office of the Supreme Chancellor.'
Seeing that the passcode to bypass the seal was four digits, he tried Eila's code as he reasoned that she is a high ranking officer, but it suspiciously denied him. Wrench wouldn't realize that the file was actually locked to all Jedi, excluding the Jedi Council. Although, even though the file was locked out to most Jedi, there was only one particular member recently put on the Council who's passcode had been given up.
'8108…'
Bypassing the seal, the oral report by Rex implied that the chips might be being used for something more nefarious than the explanation given by Nala Se. Digging deeper into the classified files on what that might be, Rex also wrote a redacted report about what Fives had tried to convince him and General Skywalker on. While there were black lines obscuring a good chunk of the text, Wrench was able to deduce what might be behind the black lines, in that Fives believed the chips were part of a conspiracy that could make the clones do whatever someone wanted which put everyone in danger.
Breathing out, Wrench felt uneasy with the revelations he just heard and read. It sent a shiver down his spine as a thought lingered that this was probably something related to the nightmare all clones shared. It was quietly understood among only the clones of the Grand Army of the Republic that no clone has good dreams with everyone preferring a dreamless sleep. However, his uneasiness was replaced with agitation and a hint of betrayal.
'What the hell is this?' He thought. 'If the entire clone army is compromised, why is no one raising a bigger alarm over this? What is the Chancellor thinking? What are the Jedi thinking?! Did Eila know about this from the start? Why didn't she just tell me before?!'
He found it ridiculous for the Republic and the Jedi to hide such damning information about what the clones are even if they believed there was no danger. Quickly getting up, he got dressed and headed for the medical wing. He needed to see for himself what this chip was really about.
Sometime afterward, Wrench conferred with the doctor who had examined his chip.
"Well?" Wrench questioned.
"Well Commander, it's…curious." The doctor said as he analyzed Wrench's medical scan. "This chip was rather difficult to find even with a level five atomic brain scan and I'm rather confused as to why I've never seen this before whenever I've had to treat any of you clones. Does Republic Command or did General Deova know anything about this?"
"I wouldn't know. It seems both the higher ups and the Jedi wanted to keep this all quiet."
"Hmm, strange. Regardless, it appears it's a chip made up of inorganic and organic cells that disguises itself as a benign tumor."
"Alright, but what about its programming? Can you tell what the chip is supposed to do?
"I was able to detect a faint signal from it but I think you'll need someone else to answer that question. Translating a bunch of ones and zeros isn't exactly my forte."
Sighing, Wrench would thank the doctor and was prepared to leave to find an analyst who could decode the signal. However, before he could walk out, his holoprojector went off. Like before, a trooper was there to address him.
"Yes?" Wrench asked.
"Priority one transmission from Coruscant, sir."
"Alright, route it here."
The trooper responded affirmatively and it changed to a cloaked figure.
'Is that Chancellor Palpatine? What's with the hood?' He thought.
"Commander Wrench, the time has come…"
'Time? What time?'
"…execute Order 66."
"…"
"And that's how it ended. It was pretty good, no wonder the Chancellor enjoys it so much." Vania said as she watched the suspended bacta tank of her friend in the infirmary of the Jedi Temple.
While Vania let the words sink in for Eila, she did find it strange Eila hadn't woken up at all ever since she was brought in despite the doctor having made it clear that her wounds were now fully healed. It was also strange how Eila's hair had silver tips now, contrasting against her natural hair color. But, the Jedi healer who attended to Eila sensed she was in a deep meditative state and it was probably better to be safe than sorry to leave her in the tank.
Moving her thoughts back to the opera, she murmured wistfully, "We really did miss out on watching Squid Lake together..."
She paused as she would remember what she was told by the healers.
It wasn't her fault and she wasn't alone anymore.
Breathing out, Vania clasped her hands and stood up from her seat intending to go to bed. It was late already and the infirmary itself was empty with only the civilian nurse and medical droid in for the night shift.
"Good night, Eila..." She said before calling the nurse, "I'll be taking my leave now."
"Good night, Master Solon." The nurse responded.
Vania nodded back, but before she could leave the infirmary, three younglings would enter. A human boy, a Tholothian girl, and a Wookiee. The boy was gripping his right arm.
"Petro, you should be more careful." The girl said.
"Well sorry, Katooni! I didn't know my arm had missed the edge of my bunk. Ow!" Petro griped.
The Wookiee would give some growls and grunts before chuckling a bit at his friend's injury.
"Yeah, yeah, Gungi. It's what I get for getting top bunk." Petro shot back.
The trio would immediately become aware of Vania's presence.
"M—Master Solon!" Katooni stammered.
Vania gave a half-smile and addressed the younglings, "And what are you three doing up so late?"
Gungi would answer and Vania nodded along in understanding the Wookiee's answer before turning to Petro, "It's alright, Petro. Every youngling falls out of those bunks at least once."
Petro's expression softened but Katooni would interject, "But Master Solon, he apparently fell off because he saw clone troopers coming to the Temple."
"Troopers?"
"Y—Yes Master," Petro answered, "I thought I saw troopers coming up the steps but I...well...fell off before I could get a good look."
While Vania was confused as to why troopers would be coming to the Temple, she was more concerned with the boy's injury.
"Nurse!" She called. The nurse and medical droid would come to them and Petro would prop himself up onto one of the beds.
After a quick examination, the medical droid would comment, "A minor sprain, Master Jedi. I will begin treatment."
Nodding to the droid, she patiently waited with the three younglings, intending to take them back to their quarters and making sure they were tucked into their beds. After a few minutes Petro's arm was good again. However, the relieved expressions on the younglings faces would be immediately changed to fright when muffled explosions rocked the infirmary and blaster fire began filling the ambience.
"What was that?!" Petro exclaimed.
"I don't know. Stay here." Vania said, but before she could run out to see what was going on, four squads of clone troopers quickly entered and blocked the exits at each end of the infirmary. She noticed the blue markings on them.
'The 501st? Skywalker's troopers. What's going on?'
Surrounded and unsure of their intentions, Vania called to them, "Troopers, what's happening?"
The troopers would remain silent but communicated in their internal comms on what to do next.
"Aim for the younglings. The older Jedi will do everything to protect them. Blast that one in the tank too."
Growing suspicious of their intentions, Vania's perspective seemed to slow down as she noticed two troopers moving towards Eila's tank and the others raising their blasters at them intending to fire. Reacting swiftly, Vania outstretched her arms and ripped two of the infirmary beds out of their foundations to use them as improvised shields. The volley of blaster fire was soon absorbed by the beds. Reacting further, she threw one bed at the two troopers aiming for Eila. After knocking them down, she quickly ripped another bed out to shield everyone from further attacks.
"What are they doing?!" Katooni cried as she, Petro, and Gungi ducked while the troopers continued to fire.
Noticing the younglings' fear as they, the droid and nurse cowered behind her, Vania tried to appeal to the clones, "Troopers! Stand down! I order you to stand down! There are children here!"
However, the troopers did not relent. They continued to pour blaster fire at them which was slowly eating through the beds she had thrown up. Soon enough, some shots began to go through the beds as they withered away. The nurse who was helping shield the younglings would cry out when the clunky medical droid who couldn't quite bend its knees low enough was shot next to them by a penetrating blaster bolt.
Seeing the precarious situation growing worse and realizing her own lapse in practice with a lightsaber, she called to the trio, "Younglings! Defend yourselves!"
Finding their courage, Katooni, Petro, and Gungi stood up, ignited their lightsabers, and took a defensive stance. Noticing that they were ready, Vania threw the remains of the beds at the troopers and quickly ignited her own lightsaber to block the retaliatory fire but still delegating most of the work to the Force. Intending to make herself the bigger threat, she would use the remaining beds and any loose equipment in the infirmary against the troopers while taking the brunt of the blaster fire by blocking it with her lightsaber albeit in a somewhat sloppy fashion. In her mind, it was just as long as it didn't hit the younglings or the nurse with them.
The troopers who escaped the flying beds and medical equipment would frequently reform themselves and concentrate their attacks.
'The younglings?! Really?!' Vania thought as the troopers continually gravitated their fire towards them and not her.
The younglings were trained up to the point where they might be able to block a handful of individual attackers, maybe even against groups of battle droids, but not the four clone squads they were facing. Feeling pushed to make it harder for the troopers to ignore her, she began intentionally reflecting the blaster fire back at them.
"Gah!" One trooper cried out as he took a reflected blaster bolt to the chest.
"Aak!" Another one went as he took one to the head.
A few more would similarly go down with some help from the younglings and it had the intended effect with more troopers aiming their blasters at Vania as she was racking up the score much faster than the trio. Throwing around more loose equipment certainly helped in raising the clones' ire. But it was only a short reprieve as she would notice it only gave time for more troopers, especially heavy troopers armed with Z-6 rotary blasters, to enter the infirmary. Spinning up their cannons, she realized that all of them were going to be overwhelmed by the volume of blaster fire coming at them from both directions of the room.
'Is this it?' Vania contemplated in regards to the younglings, 'Will I have to take it all for them?'
Author's Note: I am very sorry it took this long to update this story but it's an understatement that the past two and a half years have straight up sucked. A lot of things happened that affected me personally along with the pandemic changing my priorities that I can't spend much time writing anymore even with the pandemic being mostly a non-issue where I am now. Still, I do want to finish this story so I'll keep nibbling at it.
Furthermore, I saw that there were people who weren't too happy about what happened in the last chapter but I did intend for the Hardy encounter to go like that since I wanted to diverge more from the established Gate storyline. I'm sorry if it wasn't to your satisfaction or a good way to actually diverge from the Gate storyline but it's what I thought was good.