Author's Note: AND NOW… ACTION! After that last very dialogue/contemplation heavy chapter it should be a relief. Enjoy. –Em
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Chapter 19: Allies
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Shard dropped out of hyperspace on the edge of the edge of the Catharia system. Everyone on board felt the slight shudder and heard the hyperdrive cut off. Sayne stood up restlessly. Ventress stopped her pacing immediately. Ny looked up, her ears perked for the sound of alarms or warnings. Ahsoka clicked on her comm.
"Jeu?" She said into it.
"We have arrived," Jeu narrated from the cockpit, "ITA Helio Transport bearing 71.9. The Cornucopia has docked with the Transport. Hailing."
There was a tense moment of silence over the comm while they waited for the Imperial Transport Authority ship to respond. The three passengers moved unconsciously closer to Ahsoka to hear what came next.
"Unidentified Togruti Freighter this is ITA Patrol 44 Gamma, state your business."
"ITA Patrol this is Shard," Jeu replied. "Requesting permission to dock and transfer fugitive stowaways."
"Denied. We're in the middle of something at the moment."
"Article 1189, subsection 12, states that the Imperial Transport Authority must accept stowaways from commercial transports when requested and process them for misdemeanor trespassing."
"Don't quote the regs at us, Shard." The ITA officer snapped back. "If you want them gone that bad, wait your turn."
"I'm on a schedule. You have two docking ports. Commencing docking."
Ahsoka felt Shard lurch under her feet as it moved toward the ITA Helio.
"Stay where you are Shard," the ITA officer yelled.
"Firing on an unarmed Commerical vehicle displaying no hostilities is a major offence, officer," Jue replied. "Your Patrol was 44 Gamma, correct? I will make sure to file a report on your behavior. You decide if it will be favorable or not." Jue's voice was so deadpan serious it wasn't even taunting. The ship didn't slow down and they weren't blasted out of the sky so things were going to plan so far.
"Dock at the starboard airlock, Shard. Remain on your ship. We will come aboard and take custody of your stowaways when our other business is complete."
"Much appreciated, Patrol 44 Gamma," Jeu replied and clicked off the transceiver.
"We are making our approach," the Slicer told Ahsoka. That meant they were close enough the Helio couldn't risk firing on them; the plasma cannons would do as much damage to them as they would Shard at this distance.
"Doesn't sound like they're going to make it easy for us though," Ahsoka said. "We'll have to break through their airlock doors from our side."
"I assume you have the tool for that," Ventress drawled, with a note of resentment. She still blamed Ahsoka for the loss of her lightsabers on Coruscant.
Ahsoka drew the Jedi weapon from the hidden holster under the folds of her skirt and sash. It was heavy and still familiar in her hand. Just holding it gave her comfort and security. It had seen her through more battles than she cared to count.
"Is everyone clear on the plan?" Sayne asked, as he ejected the powerpack of his blaster to check the contacts.
"Humf," Ventress huffed.
"Got it," Ny said and hoisted the bag Jeu had given her onto her back.
"Stay close to me until we've located your ship," Ahsoka said to her and the pilot nodded.
She's surprisingly calm for just a freighter pilot, Ahsoka thought. She didn't have long to ponder though. Shard jolted as it docked with the ITA Helio Transport. Just past the airlock to their right they heard the dull reverberations of metal hitting metal in empty space—without air there were no high pitched clanging noises.
"Docked," Jeu said over Ahsoka's comm.
"This is it," Ahsoka hit the controls and their airlock opened to reveal the smooth gray doors of the Helio. She didn't hesitate to ignite her lightsaber and plunge it into the door. The superheated blade melted the metal like it was wax, leaving a glowing molten trail. She swung her blade as far as her arms could reach and as soon as the circular trail was complete the piece of heavy metal shot backward into the Helio shuttle with Ventress' Force push. Alarms immediately sounded, echoing in the confined spaces. Ahsoka drew one DC-17 and held her lightsaber in the other hand. She jumped through the opening first, Sayne was on her heels followed by Ventress and Ny scrambled through last with the pack.
"Halt!" The first Stormtrooper yelled as he rounded the corner. He didn't get a chance to even raise his weapon before Ventress took him down. More troops followed the first, ducking back and forth around the corner to fire at the intruders. Sayne shot back calmly while Ahsoka batted away the few well-aimed blast that came their way. With a cry, one after another, they fell.
"Move!" Ahsoka ordered and lead the way to the junction. Ventress covered one direction while she took the other. Ahsoka spotted a control panel and made a dash for it. She punched the controls quickly and a heavy emergency door slammed behind them, cutting off Shard from the ITA Helio.
"Jeu," Ahsoka said into her comm, "we're in. See you at the RV."
"Copy," Jeu replied at the same time Stormtroopers rounded the corner and fired at Ahsoka. She raised her lightsaber and batted away the first volley. Over the sound of the ricocheting plasma bolts there was a loud grinding squeal of metal wrenching out of shape. The Helio Transport lurched as Shard forcibly pulled free of the docking clamp. The plasma cannons fired with solid whump sounds a handful of times then fell silent as they lost their target.
"Ny!" Ahsoka yelled. At her call the gray-haired pilot, ducked her head and ran across the hall to join the Captain at the terminal. Ny dug frantically in the bag and pulled out a metal rod with different bands of circuitry. She shoved the spike into the port quickly. The Stormtroopers at the end of the hall paused to reload, and Ahsoka took them out with three well-placed blasts from her DC. Ventress was holding off troops at the other end of the hall with Sayne.
Ny dug out the datapadd Jeu had given her and smacked the side of it impatiently. The device crackled to life and showed her the Helio's systems loading onto the portable device.
"I'm in," she told the Jedi.
"Time to move," Ahsoka acknowledged. Ventress and Sayne backed to their position, keeping up cover fire toward their end of the hall until Ahsoka reached the far bend of the corridor and began blasting past them. The cop and Bounty Hunter made a dash for the corner with blaster bolts scorching the walls behind them.
"I've found Djela," Ny said, pressed to the wall of the corridor with the datapad. Ventress snatched it from her hands roughly and read the operations log.
"They were taking him to the communication center," Ventress said, passing the device to Ahsoka. "I'll get what I came for and meet you at the old hag's ship." Without waiting for permission or reply, the Bounty Hunter set off at a sprint through the grey maze, her long legs taking her out of sight in seconds.
"They took Katooni to the detention block," Ahsoka said, reading the log for herself.
So that's the child's name, Ny thought and accepted the pad back.
"Which way?" Sanye asked.
"We retake the ship first," Ahsoka said, her tone broached no argument. She set off down the hall with her lightsaber raised before her and the DC pointed at the floor. Sayne followed her growling in frustration and Ny trailed behind.
"See if you can delete your ship from the ITA system while you have access," Ahsoka said to Ny. "That will—" whatever she was going to say was cut off by the bzapp, bzapp of blaster fire.
The Jedi turned around and fired back with deadly accuracy, dropping the troopers. Ny looked at the sprawled bodies in reminiscent white armor. She tried not to think of all the boys she knew who had worn armor not so different at one time. She swallowed bile. Jedi really are scary, she thought and followed the Captain.
Sayne turned the corner to the airlock first and took out the first guard before he had a chance to return fire. Ny caught a glimpse of the familiar interior of her ship at the end of the short hall. Ahsoka dove and rolled into the center of the corridor, coming up with her blaster raised and put a bolt through the second guard's helmet.
"Come on," she called the other two forward, but at the same moment two stormtroopers ran into Cornucopia's airlock. Sayne and Ny skidded to a stop beside Ahsoka, completely exposed.
"Intruders!" One trooper yelled in a familiar voice and they both reached for their holstered weapons.
Ahsoka threw her hands up and pushed with the Force, throwing the two troopers off their feet like an explosion had hit their chests and slamming them into the far wall of Cornucopia's cargo bay. The troopers collapsed where they fell, completely still.
Ny, Sayne, and Ahsoka dashed into the warmer, if rustier, interior of Cornucopia. Just the familiar smell of the ship was comforting to Ny. Pounding boots on the decking made Ny turn to the port into the crew quarters as a white armored figure filled the hole.
"Intruders? Where?" The trooper cried. For a second Ny could have sworn it was Fi calling out to her. "Sarge!" The trooper saw his collapsed comrades and called out in alarm. He fumbled for his weapon in the narrow hallway he was trapped in. Sayne was faster. He fired one well aimed shot that hit the trooper in the side.
The trooper cried out in pain, clutching the burned and blackened plastoid. Ny reacted on instinct and dove for Sayne's arm. She dragged his aim down to the floor, away from the injured clone.
"Get off me!" the bigger man threw Ny off easily.
"NO!" She cried and jumped up, stumbling to put herself between Sayne and the trooper. Ny had barely gained her feet before the Captain's thin but strong hand gripped her arm and spun her around. Her green-glowing blade easily deflected the injured Stormtrooper's retaliatory shots. She lifted a hand before he could release another volley and the weapon was wrenched out of his grip, slickened by his own blood, and flew into the Jedi's hand.
"Are you insane?" Sayne screamed at Ny, but she was looking at the clone trooper as he collapsed in the hallway of her quarters. "He would have killed you! What the frak is your problem?"
"Enough!" The Captain snapped and spun on Sayne. "Watch the airlock," She ordered him, meeting his furious gaze with her own calm blue eyes, her small, stubborn chin set.
"Yes, sir," Sayne hissed and marched back to the airlock.
Ahsoka threw a look at the old woman before turning her attention to the injured trooper. She approached him slowly, her lightsaber still ignited but she put his captured blaster down on the ground.
"Take off your helmet, trooper," Ahsoka said softly. Ny couldn't hear anything different in her voice but the air felt like it was vibrating around the Jedi and she shivered involuntarily. To her surprise the trooper took off his helmet without argument, his glove leaving red smudges where he gripped it.
The face underneath was heart-wrenchingly familiar and tense with pain. The clone looked back at Ahsoka with wide dark eyes and trembling lips. He was heaving in each breath and sweating bullets.
"You will comm the detention level," Ahsoka told him, one hand raised, palm toward the clone as she passed it slowly in front of him.
"I—I will…" the clone said unwillingly, stumbling and gritting his teeth. But his will wasn't as strong as the clones Ny knew and the pain was weakening him. "I will comm the detention level."
"You will tell them there has been a mistake. The cargo is not what Djela Kur said it was. You will tell them to return it immediately."
The trooper raised one trembling arm and turned on his comm. "IT-9/77351 to detention operator."
"Go ahead," a scratchy voice answered.
"Outlander scum lied to us; the girl isn't a Jedi. Have her sent back here."
"Haven't you heard the alarms? We've been boarded!"
"The intruders are in custody," Ahsoka whispered.
"The intruders are in custody. Should arrive with you any minute. You'll need the cells free."
"Copy that, 51," the detention operator replied with a disappointed sigh. "That didn't last long."
The trooper dropped his arm when the comm call ended and his head fell back against the wall exhaustedly. He gasped raggedly and his face contorted in shame and frustration.
"You're gonna be alright, Soldier," Ahsoka said and waved her hand one last time. "Sleep." The clone's eyes rolled up and his eyelids dropped as he passed out on the Jedi's command.
"You ready Sayne?" The Captain stood up, and the gentle, compassionate Jedi was gone. She stalked to the other side of the airlock and reloaded her blaster calmly. "They're bringing Katooni to us."
"She had better not be harmed," Sayne growled.
"Ny," Ahsoka snapped at the pilot without turning to look at her. "Get your ship ready to take off in a hurry."
"Yes, sir," Ny said. She glanced at the unconscious, bleeding man one last time before making a dash for the pilot's chair at the front of the ship. She had the sublight engines primed and the hyperdrive booting before she heard boots from the airlock behind her. Ahsoka and Sayne didn't even get a chance to raise their blasters before the sound of shots echoed off the metal walls.
Sayne and Ahsoka dashed into the hallway, weapons drawn to see Ventress standing over two fallen troopers and dragging a struggling Ilothorian in binders. Beside the fallen troopers, the carbonite frame hovered on it's repulsors with the small girl's profile protruding from the gray block.
"Kat!" Sayne dashed forward, hurriedly inspecting the frame and the child frozen within it.
"Get her onboard," Ahsoka told him, then said to the Bounty Hunter, "I see you got your man."
"This sleemo has caused me enough trouble," Ventress replied shoving her captive onto Ny's ship. "I intend to get paid for it."
"They're stealing the ship!" One Stormtrooper yelled as a squad rounded the corner and opened fire. Ventress spun and shot back while Ahsoka made a dash for the door controls, protecting herself with her lightsaber.
A buzzing sound started just beyond the airlock walls and the Cornucopia jolted. At the same time the door controls froze up on the panel at Ahsoka's fingertips.
"Shab!" Ny's yelled curse came from the front of the ship. "They've got a mag-clamp on us."
"At least this crate isn't big enough for a tractor beam," Ahsoka said to herself. She pulled out her shoto and tossed it to Ventress. The Bounty Hunter caught it with an expression of bafflement.
"We're cutting free then," Ventress said.
"Looks like it," Ahsoka replied and sent a few ricochet blaster bolts back down the hall to drive the stormtroopers around the corner. "Cut the power conduits."
"I know," Ventress said exasperatedly and ignited the shoto.
"Now!" Ahsoka cried and they both plunged the blades into the largest junctions of the docking clamp. The buzzing sound cut off.
"Where's our backup?" Stormtrooper yelled into his comm at the far end of the hall.
"Time to go," Ventress said, clearly thinking the same thing Ahsoka was. They dashed for the Cornucopia, batting away the last few shots. Sayne was waiting by the freighter's airlock doors to slam them shut. Ahsoka pulled out a detonator and pressed it firmly. There was no resulting explosion, but she hadn't expected one. Ahsoka grabbed the datapad Ny had discarded with the bag, Jeu had given her. The screen showed running error codes that dissolved into static. Ahsoka smiled. There would be no digital trail of their presence there.
Ny saw the pressurization check flash green and didn't hesitate to blast the engines. The wrenching sound of metal was almost physically painful for her. She hated to treat her ship so roughly. But Cornucoipa was built of strong stuff, stronger than the ITA Helio at least. The docking clamp failed with the rushing sound of air being sucked into empty space. Ny heard a few muffled screams through the closed airlock before the cries were lost to the soundless void. I'm sorry, Kal, she thought to him with a painful stone in her gut. She didn't know how many of the troopers in the hall, who were now floating in empty space, had been clones, but even just one would sadden Kal.
Cornucoipa shot away from the ITA transport. Ny evaded the few poorly aimed plasma cannon shots that came her way. The Navi-computer beeped and she slammed down the lever, catapulting them into hysperspace. Ny stared at the flashing lights for a long moment before she believed it.
We made it, she though. We got away. I'm home. She ran her hands lovingly over the arms of her chair. But something still felt missing. Ny turned the chair to look back at her passengers: a Jedi, a Bounty Hunter, a criminal, a former Cop, a child frozen in carbonite, and three clone troopers. It was definitely the strangest group of people she'd ever had onboard, that included Mandos and old Kaminoan Jedi.
This isn't over yet, Ny thought exhaustedly.
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The Carbonite frame hissed and steamed as it released the child frozen within it. Sayne stood as close as the noxious smoke would allow, his hands clasping and unclasping nervously. Ahsoka came up to his side and put a hand on his shoulder. A small cough came from the cloud and became a gasping breath. Sayne dashed forward to catch the staggering form of the child that came out of it. She collapsed into his arms and they both sunk to the ground.
"Katooni? Kat?" Sayne called to her, cradling her head.
"Sayne?" the little girl asked and coughed again. "Where are we?" She asked in a hoarse voice. "I'm thirsty."
Sayne chuckled shakily in response.
"You're safe," Ahsoka said, coming up behind him and smiling down at the former Padewan.
"P-padewan T—" Sayne gently put a finger over Katooni's lips and shook his head.
"Oh," she said and beamed a beautiful smile. "I'm glad you're alive," she told Ahsoka.
"You too, young-one," Ahsoka said. Katooni nodded tiredly and leaned closer to Sayne's warmth. He wrapped his arms more tightly around her small shoulder and placed a kiss on her forehead. Sayne turned to smile gratefully up at Ahsoka.
"Thank you," he said fervently.
"You're welcome," Ahsoka said, bowing in Jedi fashion. "I'll see if I can't find someplace for her to rest a while." She backed away from the small family, feeling like an intruder. Sayne put his chin on Katooni's headdress, his eyes closed and his expression peaceful.
Ahsoka turned around to find Ventress nudging one of the unconscious troopers crumpled against the walls of Cornucopia's hull. I have to deal with them first, she thought without any enthusiasm. It had been hard enough not to see the men she had once considered friends in the clone she had mind controlled. To her surprise, his mind felt different from any clone she'd ever met. He felt so much younger than the clones she had worked with. There was less knowledge in his mind, less doubt, less emotion in general. The strongest sense she got from the strange clone was confusion. The entire world seemed to confuse him. It made manipulating his mind laughably easy compared to the time she'd tried influencing one of her own men that way.
"They aren't dead you know?" Ventress said, rolling one of the armored men over with her foot.
"I know," Ahsoka replied.
"Are you going to finish the job or do you still not have the stomach for that kind of thing?" Ventress tested her.
Ahsoka crouched beside the man at the Bounty Hunter's feet. She gently removed the man's helmet, careful to release all the seals that kept it on so she wouldn't hurt him. Like she expected, he had the same familiar face. Like the clone she had mind controlled, his face was unscarred and smooth, paler than most clones, like he'd rarely seen the sun. Also like the other clone, his mind was dominated by confusion and oddly empty when she probed it.
"Don't you think you've killed enough clones?" Ahsoka asked Ventress stalling. She dug in the clone's utility belt for binders. It seemed a bit cruel to tie the man up with his own restraints but it was kinder than killing him. The second clone she un-helmeted had a weather-beaten face and a constellation of shrapnel scars on his cheek, trailing down his neck and under his bodysuit. His mind was teeming and overflowing with knowledge. Where the other two were simple, he was complex. There were doubts, fears, grief, and anger in him that shaped him into a unique personality. Ahsoka bound him like his brother.
"What are you going to do with them?" Ventress asked as Ahsoka moved to the unconscious, injured man in the hallway. She wasn't sure if she was relieved or troubled that the man was still alive. The blast had melted his armor and bodysuit. The melted armor itself seemed to have covered the wound and prevented him from bleeding out. Ahsoka frowned at the mess of melted plastoid and burned flesh, wrinkling her nose at the stench. It always reminded her of Shili.
"Help me move him," Ahsoka said to Ventress, stepping over the unconscious clone.
"Why?"
"Because he's blocking the hallway," Ahsoka said exasperatedly. Ventress rolled her eyes but bent down to take the stormtrooper's shoulders. Ahsoka lifted his legs and together they moved him into the cargo bay beside his brothers. Ventress backed away inspecting her hands for blood or some other filth.
"Is he alive?" Ny's voice behind her made the Jedi turn and glance up. Ny had her hands clasped and her gaze focused on the clone's face.
"For now. I'll see what I can do about his injury," Ahsoka told the pilot, and she relaxed a little.
"I don't know why you're bothering," Ventress drawled. Ahsoka staunchly ignored her.
The Jedi set to work, using supplies from the man's utility belt, cleaning and disinfecting the wound as best she could. Even after she managed to remove the armor around the affected area she could see globules of the melted plastoid in the carnage. She didn't have a good way of removing them and suspected doing so might cause more damage. If she did, the man might bleed out. If she didn't he might develop sepsis and die from blood poisoning. She took the option that gave her the most time to find better help.
Then what? She asked herself. She hadn't really meant to take three clone troopers captive. The idea of killing them still unsettled her. Even if the clones of the current 501st had betrayed her, there were many—maybe hundreds—that she had fought beside as their Commander and mourned for when they gave their lives on the battlefield. She couldn't think that those men might have betrayed her too when they had followed her loyally to their deaths.
The weathered and scarred clone awoke as she was bandaging his injured brother. He started and struggled against his bonds for a moment, jerking awake with a rush of adrenaline. Ahsoka looked up from her work and watched him awkwardly struggling to his knees while his ankles and wrists were bound. The clone looked around, taking in his brother bound on his left and his injured brother on the right. Finally his eyes rose to Ahsoka's.
He licked his dry lips and swallowed uncomfortably, but didn't speak. Ahsoka tied off the bandage on the injured clone and bound his wrists over his chest, careful that the binders wouldn't cut off circulation. When she looked back up at the only conscious clone, he was staring across the cargo-bay at the far wall resolutely, as if he were at attention not bound and kneeling.
"Is there a place the girl can rest?" Ahsoka asked Ny.
"Sure," Ny said, half her attention still on the clones, "there are bunks in the back." She pointed back to the small hallway and the puddle of blood.
"Thank you," Ahsoka said and went to tell Sayne. Ny remained watching the clones until the father passed with his daughter wrapped in his arms. Her gaze unwittingly followed Sayne's back toward the crew quarters.
She's lucky to have someone like him, Ny thought, like Kal. The old over-emotional Mando often had that look of tender caring when he looked at his own sons, even if they looked 25 or closer to 30 in some cases.
"Wake," the Jedi's clear voice brought Ny back to the clones on the deck of her ship.
Obediently the unconscious and uninjured clone's eyes opened and he struggled on the ground for a minute before he got awkwardly to his knees. The clone looked around, panicked, until he saw his brother sitting still and resolute beside him. The man snapped his head around to imitate the position and closed his gaping mouth tightly.
"What are your names?" Ahsoka asked the two conscious men. They remained silent. "What division are you from?" Ahsoka pressed. "Where are you deployed from?" They remained silent. The Jedi bent down before the strangely confused and unscarred clone.
"It's alright, trooper. I know you're just a shinny," She said to him, trying to remember how she used to talk to so casually with her men. "I don't have anything against you personally and I'd rather let you live, but you have to work with me a little here."
The young clone's eyes stayed focused on the far bulkhead, but his lips and chin trembled uncontrollably. Ahsoka sighed and moved on.
"You know," she said to the veteran, "there aren't many ways for this to end without you and your brothers dying." The veteran didn't even flinch. "I've known a fair number of troopers in my time as a Jedi. I want to believe that some of those men would have done the right thing, if they'd had the chance. Maybe you would to," she looked closely at his face. Please answer me, she willed. Tell me why you and your brothers did this to the Jedi? Why was it so easy for you? Why was it so compelling for him?
But the veteran remained still and quiet, not even a muscle twitched in his face. She could feel a distance when she brushed against his mind in the Force. He was well trained against Jedi mind-tricks like the soldiers Ahsoka had known.
"I'll break him," Ventress said arrogantly advancing from where she'd taken up leaning against the wall.
"No!" Ahsoka turned to glare at her former enemy with a look that said back off. Ventress just shrugged.
"Have it your way," she returned to leaning against the wall where she could keep one eye on her prize cowering in the corner. "He already knows how this is going to go. Do the kind thing and put them out of their misery now."
The shinny sniffed, the sound was loud in the silence. Ahsoka looked at his shaking shoulders and the tension in his clenched jaw. She'd seen separatists execute captive clones before. None of them had ever looked as terrified as this young shinny. Maybe they just hid it better, Ahsoka thought. All beings feared death after all.
"There are other solutions," Ahsoka bluffed and stood up wearily. Sayne came back out of the crew quarters and threw her a questioning look. Ahsoka could only shake her head. She walked away, thinking. Maybe Organa would know what to do. Some of the rebel cells must have captured Empire troops at some point. What do they do with them? I can't just execute these men. They didn't sign up for this—they were bred for it.
The cynical part of her brain said, yes, they were bred to fight and die. It's all they were ever meant for—ever capable of. What life could they have even if you could let them go? They would go back to the Empire to be wasted like droids because they don't know anything else. They all go back. Even Rex. Ahsoka flinched against the memories of Shili that were already at the forefront of her mind. Her shoulder tingled painfully.
"Su'cuyi, ad'ika," Ny's voice and the words that stirred old memories made Ahsoka turn. "Ni cuyi burc'ya be ner vode." It took Ahsoka a moment to unscramble the words "friend" and "brothers" but she though Ny was trying to tell them they could trust her. The veteran reacted to the language, his eyes widening and his nostrils flaring. His gaze moved slowly to Ny.
With intentional deliberateness he spit on the decking at the old woman's feet.
"You can shove the Mando poodoo back where it came from," the clone growled at her. Ny looked taken aback and gaped openly at the clone. His shinny brother wore almost the same expression. The veteran turned to glare at Ahsoka, his silence now broken.
"Explain it to me, Jedi. What is the right thing to do? Is it right to raise sentient beings with lies of glory to die fighting in a fabricated war? Is it right to attack the beings who created you and enslaved you with lies to a short, painful life? Explain it." He glared at Ahsoka.
"You're going to hold fourteen year old children responsible for your lot in life?" Sayne spoke up from where he was standing, almost protectively, by the entrance to the crew quarters. "How can you defend the slaughter of children?"
"That fourteen-year-old child is older than he is," Ny snapped, wheeling on the tall man. She glared at Sayne's stony expression until Ahsoka broke the silence.
"It would be right," she answered the clone in a clear voice, looking back with steady blue eyes, wishing it was Rex she could say the words to not a stranger. "Yes, it would have been right, if the Jedi were the ones who created the Clone Army and started the war. They didn't do either. The Sith lied to and used us, just like he did you. We were all slaves."
The clone veteran's glare didn't waver or soften for a second. It silently told Ahsoka what she already knew. Nothing I say will change what he thinks now, she admitted to herself and turned away from the clones again. I can't trust men like that, no one can.
"Quit playing games with our lives," the veteran snapped at her angrily.
"Shut it, clone!" Sayne yelled at him advancing on the man with his fists balled. Ny planted her feet and stood in the large man's way, looking comically dwarfed by him.
"You have what you want, leave the boy alone," Ny said firmly.
"That boy would happily shoot you and anyone else they told him to!"
"I'm sure he would if it meant protecting his brother. How many of them did you kill to get your daughter back?"
"I'm not going to loose sleep over killing scum like that."
"'Scum like that? You don't know the first thing about these men. If you did you'd know they're the kind of people you wish randomly created humans were. They don't think about themselves first. They live and die for their brothers. The Republic and the Jedi and you used that to fight the war for you." Damn, I sound like Kal, Ny thought.
"I never agreed to have a clone army fight for my people. We wanted nothing to do with the war."
"It didn't affect you," Ny mocked him. "So you did nothing. You could have done something about their suffering and you didn't. What does that make you, Sayne?" She laughed dryly. "The very thing you hate! I may be a self-serving old hag, but at least I'm not a hypocrite too!" Ny turned on her heels and stormed away past the conflicted expression of the veteran clone, the open confusion of the shinny and the Jedi's wide eyed look of approving amazement.
"You just wait, Nyreen Vollen," Sayne growled after her. "Wait until they try to kill you once or twice, and then tell me how good and virtuous they are. They're killing machines—not men." He disappeared back into the crew quarters with a last glare at the clones.
"I kind of like him," Ventress said from her spot near the corner. Ahsoka threw her an unamused look and followed Ny to the front of the ship.
"What are you going to do with those men?" Ny asked softly, when the Jedi joined her beside the helm. Ahsoka noted that Ny called them men or boys, not troopers, soldiers, or clones.
"I'm asking myself that same thing right now," Ahsoka said with a heavy sigh. She studied the short grey-haired pilot more closely than she had before. Somehow she'd missed a very perplexing part of Nyreen Vollen.
"How did you know some of the clones were Mandalorian?" Ahsoka asked.
"What?"
"That language, I recognized it. Some of the clones I served with during the war spoke it. It's mando'a: Mandalorian."
"Yeah," Ny nodded, looking at the floor and wringing her hands again. "I know some clones, ones who left the Republic before it became the Empire. They're all pretty… mando."
"They were deserters?" Ahsoka asked curiously. She'd heard of at least one clone who turned traitor but not many deserters, and none by name.
"They'd probably call it retiring, but yes. They felt they'd done their duty and… they wanted another life." The old woman looked over her shoulder again at the clones on the floor of her ship. "They're good boys," she said softly and hesitantly met Ahsoka's gaze. She was relieved to see acceptance, perhaps even hope, in the Jedi's expression, not judgment or anger.
"Did they find it?" Ahsoka asked, "another life?"
Ny thought of Ordo's self-conscious and flustered announcement of Besany's pregnancy, the proud smile on Levet's face when he could bring food to the table from his farm, and Darman bouncing Kad on his knee by the fire.
"Yeah, they did."
"Do you think those boys could too?" Ahsoka asked, half to herself.
"I've found that clones are… surprisingly adaptable," Ny said, studying the Jedi's expression of wistfulness and something remorseful. "If they have a chance… it's there."
"And they would be away from the Empire?" Ahsoka asked.
"They'd be cut off from pretty much everything," Ny assured her. "I know the man who created the place. He'd be happy to have a few more boys around."
"Does he know what he's signing up for?" Ahsoka asked skeptically and Ny chuckled.
Any man who could raise six of the craziest, scariest Jango clones can deal with these three—even the mando-hater, Ny thought.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he does."
"Sounds like an interesting guy," Ahsoka muttered. She sat down exhaustedly in the passenger seat. She tried to imagine what kind of lives the clones could have away from the Empire. She couldn't help but remember Rex descending the ramp of the diplomatic shuttle proudly with Jaina at his side. He looked totally at ease and content with his new life of freedom. But he chose to go back, Ahsoka reminded herself. Part of her held onto the fantasy that Ny described. It would be too easy to leave the clones with the old pilot. Considering Ny's last passenger had stranded her and stolen her ship, Ahsoka wouldn't feel comfortable leaving three bred and trained soldiers on the freighter—even if they were tied up.
Ny was thinking the same thing, forcing herself to look at the nav controls instead of the clones. You could take them to Kal, she thought to herself. You were planning on going back before. Maybe he'll be distracted by them, and we can put the argument behind us. Rescuing three of his boys is worth that, right? As soon as the thought crossed her mind she remembered Sayne's harsh words:
"…maybe you even do something good and selfless now and then….That just placates your own guilt so you can sleep at night."
That's all I'm doing now, isn't it. Ny thought disgustedly and balled her fists in her lap. Bringing him a few more lost boys doesn't change who I am—it won't make me belong there. She wasn't sure she could bear to see the place she had so desperately wanted to be home and then leave it again with that sense of finality.
Ny dug around in the compartments around the main console and got up to scour the nav-station for a clean piece of flimsy. She ripped off a piece of a customs declaration form and scribbled Kal's contact under the word Kyrimorut.
"Here," she shoved the scrap at the Jedi Captain. Ahsoka spun around in surprise and took the piece of paper with confusion. She flipped it open and glanced at the scrawled numbers.
"Morut? That means 'a base', right?"
"I haven't a clue," Ny said honestly. "That's what they call the place. I'll warn you they're suspicious, violent as they come, and don't much like Jedi."
"I'll keep it in mind," the Captain said thoughtfully and slipped the paper into the pocket for her belt. "Thank you."
"Sure," Ny said awkwardly and sank into her chair. It was the least I could do, she thought bitterly. It doesn't make up for anything.
Ny sat silently in her chair for the rest of the short hyperspace jump trying to decide where she'd go when the Captain and the Bounty Hunter were gone. She had her livelyhood back and with her ship erased from the Empire's flagged list she could travel freely again. It still took her a few long minutes to think of even one place to plug into her nav-computer.
Cornucopia shuddered gently when the lightspeed drives shut off. The stars shrunk back into pricks of light and the bulbus shape of the Jedi's ship drifted in front of them.
"Shard, this is Cornucopia," Ny hailed Jeu.
"Copy, Cornucopia. You were successful?"
"A little too much so," the Captain said from behind Ny. "Could you clear out the second holding cell while we dock? I think I was using it for extra storage."
"Who are you incarcerating?" Jeu asked.
"Brothers," Ahsoka said wearily.
"Is that wise?" The Slicer was clearly familiar with the term.
"Definitely not," Ahsoka replied and reached over to cut off the channel before Jeu could make anymore vaguely disapproving remarks. She retreated to the back of the ship to get Sayne and Katooni. The man was still glowering and sour about the clones.
"You're asking for trouble, Ahsoka," he warned her as he gathered the sleeping Katooni in his arms, cradling her under his chin protectively.
"I can't kill helpless slaves," she responded with what she hoped was Jedi calm, but her stomach was churning.
"They aren't helpless," Sayne grumbled and pushed past her. The gentle thud of the docking ports vibrated through the ship a moment later. When Ahsoka came back out into the cargo bay, Djela had realized what was happening.
"You won't really let them do this to me, Ny?" the Ilothorian babbled in his grunting language frantically at Ny's back, his large eyes shifting frantically around from face to face in the small space.
"Shut up," Ventress hissed at him.
"Ny, I was Terin's friend—he trusted me." The Ilothorian cried, "He owed me. You owe me! You can't let them do this! I'm sorry about… it wasn't personal. I needed the money. Ny, I can make this right—"
Ny spun around and lashed out with her fist, catching Djela just under his curved head between the two mouthes on either side of his neck. The Ilothorian cried out and trembled in pain, stumbling.
"You can't make this right, Djela. And don't ever talk about my old man," Ny said, standing over the hunched creature. "I don't owe you a karking dungheap!" She turned away marched back to her pilot's chair.
"Hum," Ventress hummed softly. "So the old woman does have some spine after all," Ahsoka heard her say softly.
"Move it, scum. Your friend Bedjiim is waiting for us with my fee. I hear his accomodations are top notch."
"I've seen them," Ahsoka agreed. "They certainly are. I guess you need a ride back there?"
"I can find my own way."
"Consider it repayment for Coruscant."
"You held up your end of the deal."
"You lost your lightsabers. I owe you for that."
Ventress considered the Jedi she'd once considered a pitiful excuse for an enemy.
"Even his bounty wouldn't cover that cost," Ventress said smoothly. "But it's a start." She took hold of the Ilothorian's shoulder hard enough to bruise and pushed him through the airlock. Ahsoka and Jeu led the troopers off the ship, Ahsoka holding the injured man aloft with the Force.
Ny was still running through the list of possible destinations before her when she closed the airlock without a final goodbye to the crew and passengers of Shard. She was happy to see the Bounty Hunter and her charge gone and relieved to be out from under Sayne's accusing glare. The Jedi Captain wasn't so bad. I think I prefer the company of Mandos, Ny admitted to herself. She sighed and looked around the empty hold of her ship.
The console beeped telling her she was being hailed. Ny flicked open the comm channel.
"It was good working with you, Nyreen Vollen," the Captain said over the open frequency. "And thank you for the information."
"Are you planning to use it?" Ny couldn't help but ask.
"That may not be up to me," the Captain replied, "but it's good to know there's another option. Stay safe."
"You too, Cornucopia out," Ny said and cut the channel. She watched through the viewscreen as the Slicer's little shuttle detached from Shard's underside docking port and shot into hyperspace. A moment later Shard disintegrated into a beam of light and disappeared.
Ny stared at where it used to be. She was truly alone. Not another being for light-years in any direction. Ny shivered. She turned to the navi-computer and input the first destination that came to mind. The second the computer finished calculations she punched the leaver and sat back for the long trip to Hanath.
.
Author's Note: So really just one very long extended scene this chapter. It didn't seem like the kind of thing I should break up. So the Ahsoka-Ny-Ventress Arc as I have been calling it is drawing to a close and Rex is nearing his goal so Part II should be ending soon… as soon as I get over the MAJOR case of writers block I have.
As always, please leave a review. I'm always open to help, suggestions, ideas for more side-plots (like I don't have enough of those) or names for those three poor clones. –Em.