CRIME OF FASHION

Like Obi-Wan said, Dalla isn't sure whether the rebels are more intent on fighting the droids, or each other. It seems everyone has a skeleton in his or her closet.

...

"I'm just saying," Dono says when the others get back from carrying out miniature strikes. "You look like you're wearing your mother's clothes."

"I don't have southern clothes. I had to raid my aunt's closet so I don't stick out like a sore thumb," Dalla explains. "She still had some of the stuff she brought when she moved up north."

"And she should have left that shirt behind." Dono points to it. "Are those embroidered fruits?"

Dalla holds out the front of her/Aunt Shara's shirt so she can see the large, garish fruit embroidery. "Aye, they are."

"Sweet Unifar," Dono groans. "You can't wear that."

"I've seen senators wear stranger things," Ahsoka Tano announces in what Dalla guesses is an attempt to make her feel better about the shirt. "Some of their gowns look more like sculptures."

"At any rate, what else am I supposed to wear?" Dalla raises her hands in surrender. The only other clothes she brought south are her leathers, which are impractical in the southern heat and a dead giveaway. Maybe Dono wouldn't think the shirt is so ugly if it wasn't rumpled from sleep.

"Anything," Dono urges.

Steela speaks up from where she's cleaning her rifle. "Dono, get back to us when you can make clothes appear out of thin air."

"If I could do that, I would be rich." Dono scoffs. "But even though I'm not, that fruit abomination needs to go."

"You're such a fashionista," one of the other girls chides.

The others giggle as if they're in the middle of a slumber party, which they almost are. The rebels only have enough room to form one men's sleeping chamber and one women's, and with so little room they're sleeping like tookas in a pile.

Dono huffs. "It's not my fault you all can't detect horrible outfits."

"Well there is a plus," another girl points out. "If Rash sees her, he'll be too focused on the fruit to notice who she is!"

Everyone but Dono bursts out laughing, even the seemingly-stoic Ahsoka.

"What if I get one of those hats that looks like a giant bowl of fruit?" Dalla laughs. Dono visibly shudders.

"That's it. I can't look at it anymore," She vaguely gestures to Dalla's shirt and walks over to her bedroll.

"What am I supposed to do then? Walk around topless?" Dalla asks and Steela almost doubles over her gun from laughter.

Dono rifles around her things and chucks a wad of tan fabric to Dalla. "Use this!"

Dalla unfolds the fabric, revealing a tan cargo shirt.

"Of course you have extra clothes," the girl who suggested Rash would be distracted by the fruit embroidery jests.

"You're just jealous, Hero," Dono replies unruffled. "You're not the one who was in danger of wearing a fruit monstrosity."

"Says the one who wears a helmet shaped like a salad bowl," Hero shoots back.

Dono scoops up her helmet and puts it on, posing like a fashion model. "I don't just wear it. I pull it off. No one can pull off a shirt like that."

"This one's more my speed," Dalla admits and buttons the tan shirt.

"See? Fashion crisis averted. Everyone's happy."

Hero slow claps.

Dalla plunks down next to Steela and Ahsoka while Dono and Hero exchange japes.

"Are they normally like this?"

Ahsoka raises an eye marking at Steela to ask the same question.

"Most of the time," Steela admits. "Dono lived nearby when I was a kid, and Hero's one of her best friends. Even if they do pick at each other."

"There are some like that in the Temple," Ahsoka says. "Barriss and I don't really pick at each other, but we do have our differences."

Dalla remembers a few girlhood clashes with Miranda, most in good humor and the few that weren't resolved themselves within a fortnight. "Had one like that too."

Meanwhile, Dono and Hero are still going at it.

"I can't believe you called my helmet a salad bowl."

"I could dump lettuce in it and no one could tell the difference. And you thought that shirt was bad."

"There are some things that would be horrible on some people but work on others, like my helmet. And then there are things like that shirt, which is just awful and needs to be burned."

Dalla preemptively puts her hand over the folded shirt. "Dono, this isn't mine for you to burn."

"Really? It's a shame." Dono shakes her head.

"We're getting ready to carry out attacks on the droids," someone realizes. "And we're talking about fashion?"

"Believe it or not that topic comes up pretty often with the clones," Ahsoka admits.

"No kidding?" Steela raises her eyebrows. "I wouldn't have thought with men…"

"It's mostly about hair or tattoos or armor design," Ahsoka continues. "They listen to the trends and adapt them to fit regulations."

"And that's why your captain is a blonde?" Most of the clones Dalla's seen in holos have dark hair.

"Don't ask me how it happened, but he's actually a natural blonde."

"Don't tell Dono or she'll try to accessorize his armor," Steela says out of the side of her mouth.

Dono's attention zips over to them. "Did I hear my name?"

"No," Dalla lies.

Steela hides her smile behind her rifle. "Just talking about guns."

Dono doesn't pick up on the falsehood. "We hear enough about that in the briefing room. I'm never going to get how you can talk about that on your own time."

Hero elbows her. "You really want to say that to Steela while she's holding her rifle?"

Dono considers that a moment, then grabs her helmet (which, Dalla admits, does sort of look like a salad bowl) and shuts up.

There's a knock on the door and General Kenobi pops his head in. "Ladies, General Skywalker and Captain Rex are ready to speak with you."

"Don't want to keep them waiting," Ahsoka says and gets to her feet, holding out a hand for Steela to take.

"They aren't the patient types," Steela explains and ushers Dalla ahead of her.

"They didn't look it." The generals and the captain share their looks with sea captains raring to leave port during the high season. Clearly, they want out of here and back to the war or the Temple or wherever Jedi go. Ahsoka, on the other hand, seems in no rush to leave.

The women file into the common room and take their seats: Dalla next to Dono in the back, Steela between Lux and Saw on one of the benches. The Jedi sit together, on the bench opposite from them.

"Your success will not go unnoticed," Skywalker announces, and cheers break out.

"I like the sound of that," Dalla smiles to Dono. If the rebels stick anything to Rash, it's personally satisfying.

Dono holds out her hand for a high-five. "I think I like it more."

"I agree, but we need to be mindful of public perception," General Kenobi announces. "What was your observation, Padawan?"

"The people were fearful, Master."

"Indeed."

"They were?" Dalla whispers to Dono just loud enough that it catches the Jedi's attention. "We decided it would be best that I stayed here for today's mission," she explains. And from the look on Saw's face, he'd rather have left her locked in a room. "But you said they were afraid?"

"To those who were watching, yes." Kenobi says. "Judging from the reactions I saw today I'm afraid they will mistake your intentions?"

"We need to do more damage," Saw growls and punches the air for emphasis. "A few dozen broken-down droids will do little to free Onderon."

"The people need to believe we can succeed. Without their support, their efforts are meaningless," Steela protests.

"If they're afraid, they won't support us," Lux argues. "We need to assure them of our intentions."

Saw looks dumbfounded for once. "I don't understand. Why are they afraid?"

"Maybe because you broke the nonlethal-weapons-only rule," Hutch grumbles. Hero steps on his foot to shut him up.

Steela speaks over the peanut gallery. "They're afraid we're not strong enough to win. We need to earn their trust!"

Has anyone ever told Steela she could be the Lady of a Great House? She seems well versed in Getting People To Do What You Want 101.

"You'll have plenty of time to earn their trust. All of you are going to be very busy," Skywalker says.

"Today was only a taste," Captain Rex, the natural blonde Steela fears Dono will try to accessorize, announces. "You'll all get your chance."

"In the meantime, make the most of your victories. Welcome and learn from them."

But Lux is already back in planning mode. "Perhaps if we hit something big. Give a show of strength." He pulls his arms behind him, the very picture of the lord he is. "They'll overcome their fear and join us."

"Do you have something in mind?" Ahsoka asks.

"I know the perfect target."

Lux said House Bonteri's words when she arrived in Iziz, and now she can see his thorns poking out of him. If anyone tries to bother him, he'll prick their fingers.

She has to hand it to him; he learned well. There's a reason Great Houses parade their banners and show their might, and it's that their strength is their best and sometimes only weapon. She and Lux were raised as lordlings. They've grown up watching their parents show their strength, learned how to show their own, be it on deck or on the Senate floor.

While he holds the position, she fills herself with resolve. Those who look upon her and Lux must know who they are even without their banners. They must see the thorns erupting from his skin. And when they look at her they must only see the ocean, deep and cold and deadly.

If they do it well enough, the people might think twice before declaring for Rash.

...

It looks for all the universe like Steela's planning on leaving her behind for this run too, at least until Dalla walks up to her in the briefing room and asks, point-blank, what she wants her to do.

"Right now I don't have a clue. I'm still working on the distraction part," Steela admits and hunches over the holotable. "Whatever target we're going after, it's bound to be heavily guarded by patrols and we'll need to get rid of at least some of them before we can get in. Ahsoka, do you have any thoughts?"

Dalla still can't believe the two older Jedi and the clone left Ahsoka alone on Onderon. She's old enough to do it, sure, and that's she's done it before Dalla as no doubt. But the sound of betrayal and disappointment still rings heavy in the rebels' ears.

"I couldn't tell you anything until he tells us what his target is, but … you don't think he's planning on hitting the palace, do you?" Ahsoka asks.

"Oh gods, I hope not," Steela massages her temples. "I wouldn't put it past Saw to do that, but Lux? He's so...grounded.

It sounds like Steela wants to put another adjective there, but with Ahsoka in the room goes for another. Dalla has to agree with this one. "That's the Bonteri in him. They've always been pragmatic. Well where else is there?" She ticks the options off on her fingers. "Malagan Market we use, Yolahn Square's too close to the palace, we could hit various government buildings, the canal -."

"Forget the canal. He knows that's the best way for northern ships to get in, and he's not going to risk losing potential reinforcements from the Blackwells." The look on Steela's face seems to add And I hope we'll be getting some of those reinforcements soon.

Dalla can play this game too. "We can't send the navy right now. It's too early, my father doesn't know where I am and there's no way he can learn for certain. My comlink is at the bottom of the sea."

Steela's face falls.

"Too bad it's not the canal," Dalla changes the subject. "Otherwise we could just load an empty boat with explosives and rig it to go off when it's a good distance away from the strike point. That'll draw patrols its way."

Ahsoka and Steela share a look.

"Has it worked before?"

"It's not an uncommon move up north. We've sent flaming skiffs into our enemies' navies as long as we can remember." Some of the most famous naval battles in history were decided by flaming skiffs. "And I could definitely rig one for you if you want."

"We have to be mindful of civilians," Ahsoka says. "If anyone is killed, or their property damaged, it'll only scare them more."

"That and damaging the canal isn't an option. Not if we're to preserve trade and keep the option open for -." she picks a good word. "Outside assistance. But if we don't use fire, nothing would be damaged."

Dalla raises an eyebrow. "How do we remove fire from a flaming skiff?"

"I have a few ideas," Steela says. "Stay close and - hold on. Where are Lux and Saw?"

Dalla decided a while ago that she wanted no part in Lux and Saw's feud, especially since her allegiance in it is pretty much set in duracrete. "I haven't seen them since the briefing."

As if cued, a shot echoes through the safehouse. All three women dash out of the briefing room in a full sprint.

"What happened?" Steela demands, skidding into the common room as if she's on skates. "Is everyone okay? Has someone been shot?"

"Everyone's fine," Lux says quickly. "There's nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?" Saw repeats. "Bonteri here doesn't know to keep the safety on at all times!"

Dalla's eyes go wide at the blatant violation of gun safety and Steela's eyebrows hit her hairline.

"Lux, is this true?" Ahsoka asks.

"I kept it pointed at the floor," Lux defends himself and points at the carbon scoring on the floor as proof.

Steela relaxes visibly once she realizes nobody's hurt but Saw's still wound up tight. "If you can't even hold a blaster properly then how are you supposed to use it on the battlefield?"

"It was an accident," Lux snaps.

"One event is an accident. Two is a pattern!"

Dalla whispers into Steela's ear. "Should we stop them?"

"Way ahead of you," Steela whispers, and then at a normal volume: "We don't have time for arguments like this, guys."

"When will we have time for one? When Bonteri shoots someone?"

"For the love of -."

"Knock it off!" Steela shouts. "Saw, briefing room. Lux, storeroom. I'll be there in a minute."

Saw shoots one last dirty look at Lux before stalking off for the briefing room with the galaxy's heaviest footfalls. Not to be outdone, Lux slams the storeroom door behind him.

Hero's jaw hangs open in awe. "Did you just put them in time-out?"

"I think I did," Steela says as if she can't believe it.

Dalla cautiously places a hand on the other girl's back. "Do you want me to take one and you take the other?"

"Please."

They set off for the hallway connecting the storeroom and the briefing room and Dalla whistles. "Holy krayt, am I glad I didn't get in Saw's way earlier."

"He was never like this," Steela sighs. "The old Saw would have just laughed about it or just yelled at Lux once, but never jump down his throat like that."

"He got older and meaner with it?" Dalla guesses.

"Not really. It started when our parents died."

Dalla blinks. "I'm so -."

"Remember the draft?" Steela continues, talking over her. "It was right after the Treaty of Iziz. I don't remember seeing northerners in the military spaceport."

Dalla nods. She remembers her father arguing with Glover Harkon for hours on end about whether or not to send the navy to the mouth of the river. They hadn't signed the Treaty of Iziz and feared it might be pushed on them. Turned out it was one thing Rash had the decency not to do. "Did it get to your parents?"

"They enlisted." Steela looks at her feet. "They knew they were going in anyway. They wanted to stay together, and they wanted to be with their friend. So Dane Bonteri pulled some strings to bring them both to his platoon when they went to set up a base on Aargonaar."

Dalla's stomach sinks to her feet. The world shook from the Aargonaar Ambush so hard you could feel it at the tops of Blackhold's towers. Old men and women claimed the salt gods wept from the planet's pain.

"I'm so sorry," she whispers and puts her hand on Steela's shoulder again. Sweet salt gods, no wonder she wants the Separatists gone.

"I was fifteen. I thought that when someone died in a war it was some noble sacrificial thing, but not for them. They were just helping to build the base when the clones ambushed them and -." She wipes her eyes. "After they died, Saw didn't smile for months. He used to smile all the time. And when we decided we needed to end the droid occupation and all this started he's angry all the time and he picks at Lux and his ego's never been bigger."

Dalla looks for somewhere they could sit down, finds nothing, and shuts the hall door to give Steela some privacy. "I get it," she replies. "I really do. My mom died when I was thirteen and it wasn't some great and noble sacrifice either. There was a storm, we were deploying the lifeboats and she was crushed when our main mast broke off."

"We got a comm from them saying they got to Aargonaar and everything was fine, and the next thing we knew a battle droid was knocking on our door. They didn't even send an organic," Steela spits.

"I don't remember what happened next," Dalla admits, poking at her crooked teeth with her tongue. "The lifeboat hit me in the face and knocked me out. When I woke up I couldn't feel my face and my father was holding my head above water."

They stand there between the two rooms holding Lux and Saw. Steela's almost quivering with rage and grief. Dalla's never been more conscious of her nose in years.

Saw coughs from inside the briefing room.

"Want me to take the bannerman or the other brother?" She asks when Steela doesn't reply to it.

"You think you can handle Saw?" A smirk plays on Steela's lips.

Not really. "I don't think he can yell louder than storm winds."

Steela doesn't seem so sure. "How loud are northern storms?"

…

Saw Gerrera is not louder than a northern storm, though he looks like he'd rather face one than her when she walks through the door.

Dalla's bracing herself for a gale-force and kicking herself that she even asked Steela which man she wanted to talk to. She's probably making moon eyes at Lux right now while Dalla's stuck with Saw.

Saw looks over his shoulder, the rest of him hidden behind a chair, and snorts when she comes in. "Oh, it's you."

"Steela sent me to talk to you."

"She did?" Saw dares her to say anything else.

"She did. She didn't trust herself not to lose it with you."

"And she trusts you?" He snorts. "We don't even know you."

"I think she figures I don't have the audacity to yell at someone I don't know."

"Do you?" He challenges.

"Saw, I am the captain of the Maiden's Heel. I yell at people every single day, especially when they do something stupid."

It's a lie, but it's the right lie. More of Saw emerges from behind the chair.

"If one of my crew had done something that could have killed one of the others, I would have opened his back with the cat." Another lie. The only time that had happened Dalla had shouted until her lungs were empty. If the poor sailor's face was any indication, that did the trick better than any whip. But had there been a blaster involved...well, that might have ended differently.

Saw spins the entire chair.

"It was the safety," he scoffs. "What kind of soldier doesn't know to keep the safety on?"

"Someone who never thought he was going to be in this situation," Dalla pokes her way over to a chair next to Saw's and sits. "He's a lordling. Since Lux was little, he's been groomed for the Senate. Sure, the Bonteris have military connections but more than anything they're negotiators, even Dane."

"And?" Saw goes on boredly.

"Ever thought it might be useful?"

"How?" Saw coughs. "The only thing we got out of Lux's diplomacy was -." His brain-to-mouth filter snaps in at the last possible second.

I feel so welcomed, Saw. "The Bonteris are a Great House. If Lux contacts his family's friends and bannermen you might be able to rally them to your side."

"Rallying." Saw rolls his eyes. "We tried that already. Sent Lux to go work on my uncle after he wouldn't listen to me and Steela. Didn't work."

"Who's your uncle?"

"Bremon Kira."

Silence.

"Bremon Kira?" Dalla repeats in disbelief. "Like, Beast-rider Kira? Probable-heir-to-the-throne Kira?"

"Flies-around-on-Frayl-all-day-Kira," Saw confirms.

Dalla does not have the foggiest what a Frayl is, but she plows through it. "If Bremon Kira declares for you -."

"Then all the Beast Rider clans will help us. Yep, figured that out already. Too bad we can't get the old man to sign on!" He stands and kicks some imagined dust bunny on the floor.

Okay, back to square one. "Is there any chance he might agree if you try again?"

Saw stops his tirade and looks at her.

"That's why we have you."

Bremon Kira will hear her last name and slam the door in her face. "That's not going to work. House Kira and House -."

"Not for that," Saw interrupts. "If we don't have the Beast Riders, we need the North. And since nobody knows where you are and you can't contact them," his tone lets her know she doesn't believe she can't do that. "We don't even have that. All we have are a senator and a sailor."

He doesn't even sound angry, a first for as long as she's been here. He just sounds done, and done is the worst thing he can be. Not with all the Jedi but Ahsoka gone, not with the rebellion kicking up, and not with their enemies willing to escalate and in possession of a droid army.

"You're in the great game now," she says. "Whether you like it or not, whether you like Lux and I or not, you need somebody who knows how to play and gods know Lux plays better than me."

"Politics have failed us."

"Politics are standing here in the room with you."

Saw glares at her, his old attitude back.

"My father declared for the rebels. We might not be able to voice it publicly right now but you do have our support." She says icily. "I have access to the Hold accounts if you need them in an emergency. That's the best I can do."

"You'd better hope it's enough."

"I know what happens when you lose the game," she snaps. "If we do, I am going to feel it for the rest of my life."

"At least you'll still be alive," Saw replies. "I can't say that much for Steela."

…

After Saw drops that gem Dalla retreats into the hallway to find Steela already there.

"So that didn't go well?" she asks humorlessly.

"There's something going on with him," Steela admits. "Lux might forget the finer points of combat things, yes, but a safety? That's not like him at all."

If you lived in a house with Dane Bonteri surrounded by the military then yes, that's not normal at all. And if Dalla's learned one thing from Marlon, it's that when people don't act like themselves, they're hiding something. "I'm going to go talk to him. Want to take Saw?"

"It's probably going to be more effective," Steela admits and walks past Dalla into the briefing room. "Saw! What was that for?"

"What was what for?"

In keeping with Steela's good-cop-bad-cop tactic, Dalla shoves open the door to Lux's room and cuts straight to the chase. "What are you hiding?"

"Hiding?" Lux asks incredulously and with the worst sabaac face Dalla's seen in her life.

She comes up with the first questions she can think of: "Are you working for someone else?"

"What?"

"Are you trying to contact someone? Do you have a secret banner oath?"

This time Lux looks downright offended. "Why would you even say that?"

So "secret banner oath" is the closest guess. "Something's clearly going on. Steela's noticed it too, and it's only a matter of time before Saw does. It's something about banners." Time to give voice to the worst possible option. "Do you have an old pact with the Rashes?"

Lux spins around, his hands clenched in fists. "Of course I don't have a pact with the Rashes! They've had it out for my family since before I was born. And clearly I'm honoring a pact with their enemies so -."

"Okay, okay," she holds up her hands in mock surrender. "No Rash pact, got it. When we were watching your inheritance we saw some transactions in weird places. Is someone after you?"

He shakes his head. "No one from there."

Dalla doesn't ask where there is. "But maybe someone from here?" She's getting warmer. Lux looks like he wants to throw up. "Lux, I know we don't know each other very well but I'm your bannerman. You can tell me if something's going on."

Lux slides down the wall and sits on a crate.

"I'm the heir to the throne."

Dalla blinks. "You're what?"

"My mother's birth house was Skelari," he explains. "King Dendup and my grandfather the Baron were cousins, and since the king doesn't have any children or siblings he was going to name my mother the heir. Grandfather told him not to, that she was busy with her political career. But still, when Dendup dies…"

Her arms fall to her sides like noodles. "That leaves you as the last person with royal blood." If Bremon Kira won't take the crown, inheritance law sends it straight to Lux's head. She quickly makes sure the door's closed. "Lux, does anyone else know?"

"You think I want Rash to know?" he squabbles and then sinks against the wall. "No. You're the only one and that's just because I know you won't tell the authorities."

Even going near a royal agent signs her marriage license so he's right there. "I won't," she agrees. "Nobody else knows? Not even Steela?" Surely he told Steela; it seems like these two tell each other everything.

He shakes his head. "I didn't find out until I was studying genealogy looking for someone we could declare for in case something happened to King Dendup. And then I saw it was -." His face turns the color of tallow and he shoves his head between his knees.

Dalla cautiously lays a hand on his back. "We'll give you our protection if you ask it. If you want me to hide you back at the Hold or with House Harkon, I could arrange it by the end of the day."

"I can't run," He sighs. "I have to face up to this. No king would run."

"But you don't want to be king. No one ever told you that someday the royal palace would be yours and you would rule Onderon."

"I just wanted to be senator!" His eyes dance like a trapped animal's. "That's all I ever wanted. And then one day I'm staring down at a family tree and this book is telling me I'm going to be the king. You can't imagine what that's like! It's like -"

"Like someone holocalling your family and telling you you're going to be the queen?"

Lux stops.

"Neither one of us wants the throne. If we get Bremon Kira on our side, then he could maybe -."

"He's not going to," Lux says hollowly. "He's already told us he wants no part in this war or to sit on the throne."

Dalla sits down next to him.

"I'll help you," she promises. "Whatever it is, whether it's the war or Rash or Saw being Saw or this, I'll help any way I can. Just say the word."

"I appreciate that." He straightens up, no longer worried about passing out. "I just hope I won't be showing my appreciation from the royal palace."

…

Thank you to Starwarshobbitfics for your review, and everyone please feel free to come talk with DK and myself in the forum!