The Bond Between Master and Apprentice

Part Two

On Master Skywalker's ship, The Resolute, Arthur traveled through the halls on his guard duty hours with Captain Rex, who was showing him around, while they patrolled the ship. The two were some ways in their patrol when Arthur spoke up, "Did you and Master Skywalker always get along?"

"We respected each other," the man with Jaig eyes said, "But we eventually grew to be friends and brothers in arms. Why?"

"Um, hypothetically" began Arthur, "What if a marshall commander didn't trust you, and your superior only talks to you most of the time about orders and how to precisely go about doing them, and you ended up in a big fight with the marshal, who is good friends with your superior?" asked Arthur, who hoped that Rex had a explanation for this predicament.

"I'd be in a lot of trouble in that case," Rex chuckled, "We were always taught that when you get orders, you follow them without question. Superiors are superiors no matter what. This marshal, what did he do?" The blue-striped captain turned to the Padawan.

"Well I was actually having a normal conversation, when Green jumped in through the mess doors and tackled my master. I guess she played a trick on him or something and he was getting her back and all I did was laugh because my master pinned him down and he said that I couldn't do any better and then things escalated and a massive fight was seconds away from happening when my master stepped in," explained Arthur, "When I look back on it now, it was stupid. I just hate that the marshal commander doesn't trust me that much, and always has to argue with me over something and anything I do isn't good enough," finished Arthur, who thought we was boring the captain to his right.

"Oh," Rex's eyes widened slightly, "Green was trying to protect General Kao. He doesn't know you very well and will do anything to keep his partner safe. Us clones get attached to the people we fight with and form bonds. Your Master and Commander Green are a team, and he sees your fighting with Oni-yes I know about it-as a threat to their partnership. It's a male instinct we all have to protect our territory."

"I just hate being the new guy, who is only really talked to when there are orders to carry out. I just," Arthur froze on the spot, down the hall was Master Kao, she had come with Arthur to help Master Skywalker with his duties, and to keep an eye on her Padawan. Arthur shook off his frozenness and continued to walk beside Rex, "So what else do I do besides Guard Duty?" he asked, trying to start a conversation before they reached his master.

"I'm not exactly sure what your punishment involves," Rex started, seeing the look the Jedi Master was giving her Padawan, "But I'm guessing it's about to get worse."

Arthur made no hint at all that he was keeping an eye on his master down the hall, "Um, just keep talking and moving. I don't want to speak to her right now," Arthur was getting nervous and the clone could notice easily. Rex nodded and then gestured towards an intersection. "We can take the long way around her," he suggested.

Oni's POV

I squinted my eyes at the two as they went down the hallway, obviously avoiding me. A sigh escaped my lips and I leaned against the wall, trying to think how to get around Arthur's ignorance. He sees all of this as some sort of act, but that's far from the truth. Green wasn't helping the situation and to be honest, I still don't want to talk to him. He knows that Arthur was important to me, yet he continued to fight.

I watched Arthur and Rex come closer to where I was, and I could hear what they were talking about as they came into earshot.

"So what else do I do besides Guard Duty?" Arthur asked the clone captain.

I resisted shaking my head and continued to glare at Arthur. I knew he saw me; I was the only other person in the hallway. My grip tightened around the datapad I held. Rex glanced over at me and said something in a hushed tone. Good job, Captain, make it more obvious.

I saw Arthur very secretly shake his head, probably to a suggestion that Rex made. I then heard Rex start to list the duties Arthur would be doing until we received a mission from The Council. That reminded me of our little argument back on Coruscant. What is he thinking? As they got closer I could feel fear and anxiety radiating from his Force signature. Anger and resentment soon followed. Was he really angry about the orders Green and I give him? This is a war and we all have a duty. True, the commander and I don't talk about much else around him, but-

Wait, that's it! He feels neglected! I glanced over at him, but did not change my look. The Captain motioned towards another hallway and they made their way down it. Sighing, I pinched the bridge of my nose. How do I fix this? If Green and I act different around Arthur….he'll catch on eventually. I can't let Arthur know about us. With a grunt, I push off from the wall and make my way to the bridge. Maybe I can distract my thoughts with boring star charts and regulations.

Third POV

(Hangar of the Resolute)

Kao turned around as Arthur approached the shuttle she stood by. "Master," he started, "Why have you called me down here? I'm still on my patrol shift." The Jedi Master shook her head and gestured towards the Republic shuttle. "Your punishment is being cut off early," said Kao, "You and I are being deployed to Christophsis. The Separatist are making a second attempt at conquering the planet. Are you ready to go?"

Arthur nodded his head, not wanting to tell his master that she still had his lightsaber, "Yes master, I'm ready" he replied, walking swiftly past her and disappearing into the shuttle. He heard her sigh, and she mumbled something. "Very well," she said, "I'm piloting."

After hearing her mention that, he found the seat furthest away from the pilot's seat and sat in it. "I hope that I can trust you with this" Oni said kindly, holding his lightsaber out to him, looking him up and down. "I'm still deciding whether or not I'm going to let Green keep his weapons."

Arthur showed no emotion and reached for his lightsaber, "Thank you" is all he said before turning his gaze out the window. He saw Rex at one end of the hangar and saluted to him, to which he received the same gesture from Rex.

Oni cut off the ship's engines and looked back to her Padawan. "I would appreciate it if you did not pretend as though nothing is wrong. You say you don't appreciate it when Green and I do the same thing to you; retaliation is not the Jedi way," and with that she started up the shuttle again and steered it out of the Resolute. "Commander," she said after opening a transmission to the Akul, "Arthur and I are on our way. Are the men prepped for Christophsis?"

"Yes, sir," the clone replied. Anyone could hear the pain in his answer and how he lacked his usual gruff tone and enthusiasm. "General, are you-"

"No," the woman said, cutting off the transmission. She ignored the tears that brimmed in her eyes and sniffled, staring straight ahead.

Arthur gave her a glance when he heard the sniffles. He wasn't going to say anything to her, for fear it would probably just make it worse. Arthur occupied himself on the trip to the Akul by levitating his lightsaber and spinning it in the air, getting a good look at all sides of his weapon that was just returned to him.

Oni plugged in the coordinates and entered hyperspace. Looking at the charts, she turned to Arthur and gave a half smile, wiping away her tears. "We'll be there in two hours," said the Jedi Master. She stood up and walked over to her apprentice. Resting a hand on his shoulder, she gave it a squeeze. "Can you watch over the cockpit for me, please? I'm going to catch up on some sleep before we arrive." The woman let go and waited for an answer. Perhaps if she asked him to do things nicely, he'd be more willing.

Arthur looked up at his master, "Yes master. I can" he replied, slightly tired himself, but allowed his master the rest, she was more important to the the rest of the Tenth Star Corp than he was. He got up, and scooted past his master and sat in the pilot's chair.

Oni gave a small smile and then stepped out of the cockpit, still wiping away her tears.

(Time Skip)

It was getting close to the time to arrive at The Akul, so Arthur looked back to see if he could see his master, and when he didn't he went back to flying the ship, 'cause well someone had to. He piloted the ship till he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you," Oni said, looking out the viewport as hyperspace flew past, "I can take it from here so you can get ready."

Arthur got up from the chair and left to get everything he needed. Within a couple minutes he returned, and took his seat in the back again. He looked at the charts and saw that they had a long trip. Kao spoke without glancing at him: "It'll most likely take us another hour or so to reach Christophsis, so if you want to get some rest before the battle, I highly suggest it."

Arthur looked at Oni for a brief quick seconds and without saying a word, made for his quarters. He probably wasn't going to fall asleep, but at least he could lay down. If anything, he would end up levitating his small objects in the air like he always did.

Kao took his silence into consideration and fell back into her seat harshly. She ran her fingers through her hair in a frustrated manner, not caring that it now looked messy and unbrushed. The Jedi Master glanced at her lightsabers and frowned. Unclipping them from her belt, she threw them across the cockpit with an outcry and groaned. She slipped back into her chair and rubbed the wetness off her face. "I didn't ask for any of this," whimpered the Jedi with fresh tears. "I hope you're happy, Master," she said as though Yoda were there, "You proved me a failure afterall."

Sighing again, she ripped off the gold and white armor plates she had received after her Knighthood. They were ancient pieces that belonged to the great Grand Master Satele Shan. Believing she didn't deserve it anymore, Kao dumped the armor into a pile along with her lightsabers, leaving her in a black bodysuit and brown knee-high boots. She kept her Jedi belt on, but left her lightsabers, which had also belonged to a past Jedi, Nomi Sunrider.

Oni glanced at the control panel when it beeped and saw that the Akul was hailing her. With a roll of her eyes, knowing who it was, she made to hit the decline button. But a voice in her head called out to her. Hitting the button, she connected with the Force signature.

"Oni?" she heard Green say. Just the sound of his voice drove her to tears again. "Green, I can't right now," Oni sent back, "You and I need some distance. For Arthur's sake and mine."

"You don't mean that," retorted Green, "Talk to me, so I can help you". Green, was trying his best to break through to her. Looking for any opportunity to mend the bridge that was heavily damaged, due to him and Arthur. Oni shivered and slugged down in her seat, wrapping her arms around her. "I do mean it," she said hesitantly, "I can't trust you around him and he around you. It would be best if we just did our duty and leave it at that."

"Do you even hear yourself right now?" asked Green, "You're pushing everyone away when I can feel that you need people around you right now" explained Green. If this wasn't going to get through to her, he had no other choice then to wait it out. Oni scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Good thing I have Arthur, then. Stop calling me."

Just then, Arthur rolled in and plopped down into his back seat, rubbing his eyes and stretching. He had actually gotten some sleep, but only very little. Kao tried her hardest to hide her tears and refused to make eye contact with her pupil. "Did you get some rest?" she asked.

"No," replied Arthur. He tried everything to get himself to fall asleep in his quarters. He meditated and tried other ideas, but couldn't really get any of them to work till he finally got some rest, but only a couple minutes before waking again.

"Did you?" he asked his master, hesitantly, not sure if she wanted to really talk to him or if she was still disappointed and frustrated with him. If he had learned one thing in being with her in this small amount of time, it was that she was good at hiding emotion. She managed a smile and shrugged. "As much as I could with your flying," she teased, able to look back at him with a smile.

"I was on autopilot" he replied with his own half grin. Oni checked the navicomputer and then sighed. She pulled a lever and they exited hyperspace. Far in front of them, the bright, crystalline planet of Christophsis appeared. A small cloud of cruisers were clustered above its atmosphere in a great space battle.

"Arthur," Kao started as they approached the commotion, "I want to apologize."

"Me too, but we don't have time to do it formally, so we can do this properly once we take the planet" Arthur replied, before getting up and going to the docking port, as the shuttle approached the Republic Cruisers in the distance. Arthur then stole one more glance at Kao, "Your outfit is different," he replied, then made for the dock.

Oni scoffed, though not at Arthur, but her armor. "I don't need it," she said, summoning her lightsabers with the Force to her belt, "I'll be returning it to the Temple when we're finished here." She gestured for her apprentice to go back to the docking port as she waited for the hangar of the Akul to part.

(Akul Hangar)

The shuttle docked in the hangar, and Arthur made his way off the ship, shortly followed by Master Kao. Arthur never saw the port so busy before. He gazed out at all the clone troopers assembling weapons and AT-TEs for the second assault on the planet below them.

Arthur continued to gaze around the hangar till he felt a presence behind him. The clone commander rested a hand on the Padawan's shoulder and gestured back to the shuttle. Oni was still in there. "How mad is she?" the man asked in a whisper.

"Unless you're brave enough to get anymore closer to that shuttle then you are now, I wouldn't. She's coming around I think" replied Arthur, who began to help the clones load supplies for the mission on the planet's surface. Green stood outside the shuttle after the Padawan left, waiting for his general.

She eventually stepped onto the landing ramp, staring out at the hangar. When her eyes met Green's, the Jedi Master froze. "General?" said the clone, taking in her appearance, "Where's your armor?" Kao's teeth ground together and she walked down. Looking at Green in the eye, she said: "Make sure everything is ready for our descent. I want everything prepped for a landing on Christophsis."

The clone gulped and blinked a few times, looking away with a hurt expression. "Yes, sir. But with all due respect, we haven't won the battle up here yet." Oni scoffed and began walking off, "We're landing anyway. Get the men ready." She left her commander there, who slipped on his helmet and sighed heavily. "Yes, general."

Arthur was lifting a crate, when he lost his balance, but someone from behind caught him and helped him regain his footing, "Glad to see you still have your Padawan braid" came the voice of Sgt. Smoke. Arthur just smirked, "Yeah, me too. Thought I lost it when I stood in front of what felt like 30,000 Jedi Masters."

"I'm just as surprised as you," Smoke said sincerely, "My bet was either General Kao or Commander Green would kill you after that. They're pretty protective of their space."

"So I've been told" replied Arthur, remembering Rex's conversation, "Care to help?" asked Arthur. Smoke and Arthur then lifted the supplies and loaded them on the nearest AT-TE and went for more.

Oni had been watching the two and approached them. "How's it going, sergeant?" the woman asked Smoke, giving him a respectful nod, making sure to smile at Arthur as well. Smoke shrugged, "Eh, tired and worn down, but otherwise good, sir. The boys and I are ready for a fight." This made the Jedi Master chuckle. "Glad to hear, Sarg."

"You and I could always get in a fight" replied Arthur to Smoke, who just laughed, then saw Kao's blank expression, "Too soon Arthur" said Smoke. Smoke then went to his men to get them all ready for the upcoming battle.

Arthur glanced at Master Kao, "Sorry for that" Arthur said. Oni looked over her shoulder just as Commander Green pushed past her, intentionally shoving her. When he was gone, the woman turned to Arthur, holding back tears, "It's fine; I've heard worse things."

Arthur glanced over his shoulder to a marshal commander, who was in a crowd of troopers, ordering them where to put the last of the supplies, "Talk about no respect for superiors" replied Arthur, very quietly to himself, hoping his master wouldn't hear, which he should have known better.

"I hope you're not taking notes from him," she said, rubbing her right arm and then blinking tears away. "We should get ready for the assault."

Arthur made his way to Smoke and his men and boarded the gunship that they were on. Arthur was fresh and new at this, but Smoke offered to take the Padawan with his men and have him learn the ropes. This would free up Master Kao to focus completely on the grand scheme of the battle and not have to teach a Padawan too.

Oni's POV

As our gunships passed the Separatist blockade and descended down into Christophsis' atmosphere, I couldn't help but worry for Arthur. Even though we were past the blockade, there was still the turrets to avoid. I could hear the sounds of cannon blasts flying by the ships and the faint explosion of a gunship and its crew. One shot scrapped our exterior and I stumbled.

Green reached out and stabilized me, but I did not thank him and shrugged away. I'm glad he's behind me so I don't have to look at his face, but at the same time I can feel his eyes burning into the back of my head and I shiver.

"Pilot," I call out, "What's going on down there?"

"Ugh," the clone replied with a grunt, "We're taking heavy fire, general! If the droids keep this up, I'm going to have to land a bit early." I groaned, "How many gunships have we lost so far?" A clone sergeant who was hanging on next to her was trying to reach out to the other platoon leaders. "We just lost Jax's team and Brute's, sir," he said.

Third POV

Arthur's ride in the gunship was rough and bumpy, and the explosions around him didn't help matters. Arthur held onto the one side of the ship to brace himself from the flack that was exploding around the gunship. "Pilot?" Arthur asked. "Yes sir?" came the pilot's voice. "Get us under those guns, they are ruining my ride" said Arthur.

The pilot did as ordered and dropped in altitude to avoid most of the gunfire. Arthur assumed it wasn't much further to the LZ and hoped to get there in one piece. "Sir, General Kao's ship is smoking," the pilot called down, "I think they're either making an emergency landing or crashing."

Arthur closed his eyes, and clenched his fists, making a tough decision; risk the safety of his men and go for Kao, or make it to the LZ and continue on to the capital with the rest of the troops.

"Follow them down we'll see if we can't get them out of this jam. Once they land they'll be surrounded by droids," replied Arthur to the pilot. The clone nodded and made the proper notifications to the surrounding gunships. He guided the craft towards Oni's, careful to avoid the trail of smoke from blocking his vision.

Next to Arthur, Smoke grunted, holding on for dear life as the gunship practically made a nose dive. "Hey, kid, you hanging in there?" he asked.

"Working on it" Arthur replied, "I got a bad feeling about this" Arthur hoped Oni couldn't see his gunship following hers, she would probably court martial him for not going to the LZ like the plan stated.

But inside her gunship, the only thing on her mind was the fact that they were crashing and they might die. She heard the pilot grunt and figured he had lost control of the gunship. Her fears were confirmed when he called out to them. "Brace for impact!"

The ship completely went off course and began spinning in the air. Everyone inside was jostled about and smacked into one another. Green grabbed onto Oni and wrapped an arm around her waist, the other holding on to one of the handles. She grasped onto him and slightly gasped as the ship lurched. Due to the alarms blaring and the fact that they were surrounded by troopers, she called out to him through the Force.

"Green!?" she shrieked, feeling his grip tighten. "Shh, I got you," he replied, pulling her close. The clone knew that they might die here and now, and all he wanted was to be with her when it happened. "I'm here." She turned around just enough so she could look him in the eyes. Her mouth opened to say the words, but then it all went black as the gunship made contact with the ground.

Arthur, from what he could tell through the little slits in the doors to his right, saw droids closing in on them from the north. "Pilot, get behind those droids, we'll box them in and fight our way toward Oni" came Arthur's reply.

Doing as ordered, the pilot carefully touched down on the ground behind the droids that were heading for Oni's downed ship, clueless to the fact that another ship just landed behind them. The red light inside the gunship turned green, and the doors on either side of the gunship opened. Arthur, quickly followed by clones, jumped out of the ship and immediately opened fire on the droids from behind surprising them, giving Oni and any survivors, if there were any, a chance to escape or at least have time to prepare themselves for the droids that were coming quickly.

Arthur and the clones steadily moved forward while continuing to blast the droids. Arthur swung his blade with fury, blocking blast after blast and sending them back to the droids. A couple clones on each side of Arthur dropped to the ground, but Arthur continued to press on. Behind and to the right of Arthur was Sgt. Smoke. Smoke had down five droids already and took aim at his sixth, before searching for his seventh kill of the day.

Oni's golden eyes fluttered open. She squinted as light poured through the slits of the gunship. An aura of death surrounded and weakened her. Coughing meekly, Kao tried moving. A jolt of pain rushed through her back and she cried out. With great effort, the Jedi Master managed to sit up. She glanced around until her gaze set upon the green-striped armor. The commander now lay in a pile among his brothers, eyes closed and breath faint.

Kao grunted as she crawled towards him, her legs numb. "Green," she croaked, grasping his hand and shaking it. "Green?" the Jedi asked again, feeling the death rise up from the clones and wrap her in a tight embrace that drained her strength more so. However, the marshal shifted and moaned in pain. Oni beamed and looked out the slits of the gunship, hearing the battle outside.

Arthur and the clones kept pushing, but soon a small group of droids appeared from behind them. Arthur ordered his squad to split up. Half, led by Sgt. Smoke continued to make their way toward any survivors in the gunship, while the other half, led by Arthur, stopped and did a 180 to face the challenge they had from the rear.

Sgt. Smoke and his squad had finally managed to finish off the wave of droids that tried to make contact with Oni's gunship. Sgt. Smoke then reached the doors of the gunship, and with the help from a few fellow clones, while the others had their guns pointed out and covered their back, opened the doors.

When the plating of the gunship was pulled apart, the group looked down to see Oni and three clones, including Green, getting up. "Nice rescue," Oni said after a small coughing fit. She took the outstretched hand Smoke offered to help her stand up. Once out of the gunship, she looked to Arthur. "I'm impressed."

Arthur and the other half of the squad continued to hold off the droids. His team of nine however, had become about a team of six. The squad of clones, with Arthur, began to back up, but continued to blast away. Arthur however went forward into the mess of droids and started to hack and chop at what was left.

As most of the other team, led by Smoke, watched Arthur, Sgt. Smoke glanced to his left. "Incoming!" he yelled. All the clones in the vicinity turned to their lefts and blasted at the incoming droids.

Oni ignited her blades and assumed a defensive stance, ready for a fight. A flurry of red lasers came there way and she began deflecting them with elegance and practiced grace. Though the chances of them winning this skirmish were high, she felt odd.

"Sir, the commander!" Smoke shouted, pointing to Oni's right. Looking over, the woman saw a B1 droid come up to Green's side where he couldn't see. Her eyes widened and she called out his name, but the sounds of battle drowned her out. Suddenly, a blur flew past her towards the marshal.

Arthur after finishing the droids that tried attacking his troops from behind, heard Smoke yell "Incoming!" and turned to see a even bigger squad come barrelling down at them. The clones from Arthur's squad immediately charged into the fray. Arthur glanced around the battlefield and caught sight of Green taking care of some droids, but was oblivious to the one come up from his side. Thinking on instincts, Arthur raced in a flash toward the commander and jumped in front of him. Almost instantly, Arthur felt a pain in his chest as he hit the ground and skidded to a stop a couple feet from Green.

Oni felt as though she had been punched in the chest. The wind was knocked out of her and she glanced over at her fallen Padawan. "Not again!" she cried out and ran towards him, deflecting shots as she did so. Green dropped his pistols and knelt down, rolling Arthur onto his back. "Kid!" he shouted, patting his face in an attempt to wake him up. Oni almost crashed into the commander when she arrived, kneeling down as well.

"Arthur, don't do this to me," Kao searched for the bullet wound and found a deep hole in his chest. Leaning down, she tried to hear if he was breathing. When a faint, raspy noise reached her eardrum, she huffed in relief.

"Patch!" Green bellowed, looking around the battlefield for the medic. The clone appeared soon and dropped down to inspect Arthur. "How bad is it?" Oni asked, scooting away so that Patch could do his job. Green wrapped an arm around her shoulders affectionately.

"Well," the medic started, "I can't exactly tell you right now, but my guess is he'll need a week in a bacta tank and a couple stitches perhaps. We need to get him to cover asap." He paused when he heard the teenager starting to wake up.

Arthur's could barely even see out of his eyes. He saw a couple blurs that maybe were people, so he uttered the first word that came to mind, "Mother?" he asked.

Oni raised a brow in confusion before realizing that he was probably still enduring trauma. "Arthur, can you hear me?" she asked, resting a hand on his chest just below the wound.

Arthur's breath hitched at the contact, before slightly nodding his head in response. Smoke then came with a couple troopers giving cover fire so that they could move him. Patch, quickly testing Arthur's eye sight asked a question, "How many fingers kid?" he asked showing three. Arthur then stared at the fingers, "Ugh, nine?" he asked.

"Hey, that's better than when I got shot," Green said with a shrug. Oni looked at him smugly. He shrugged again, "What? Too soon?" Kao rolled her eyes playfully and then turned back to Arthur. "As long as you aren't seeing horns or anything, you're fine," she said before looking at Patch. "Can we move him yet?"

"We are going to have to, unless you want him to get shot again" replied Patch, who got a chuckle from Smoke, who then quickly stopped laughing and continued to blast at droids that were trying to assault them.

"Alright," Oni said, "Green, help me with this." Both made to grab Arthur at his feet and near his shoulders. All Arthur did in response from the grabbing him was moan in pain. "Arthur? What have you been eating" replied Green. Kao grunted as well and shifted her Padawan's weight. "I think he's been sneaking a couple ration bars here and there." They dragged him back behind the gunship, safe from enemy fire.

Patch helped them lay Arthur down in the proper position. Taking out his medical kit, he took off his gloves and sterilized his hands. Then he pulled on blue disposable latex gloves and ripped Arthur's tunic enough so he could see the wound better. "You two better get back to battle," Patch looked up to his superiors, "I'll see what I can do from here."

"Are you kidding? The kid just saved my life!" shouted Green, arguing with Patch that he needed to stay. Oni placated him by resting a hand on his shoulder. "Green, we have to go help our men," she said, "That way we can ensure Arthur's survival." When the man resisted, she kissed his cheek and stood up. "Come on, let's go."

"Sir, if you don't mind, I'll stay with the boy," suggested Sgt. Smoke. "I can provide cover fire, while Patch here works on the kid" reasoned Smoke. Kao turned to him and gave a nod in approval. "Very well. Watch yourself, sergeant. I expect the three of you in one piece when I get back."

"Yes sir" Smoke saluted. He watched as the General and the Commander went back to the front lines to end the battle for Christophsis. Smoke watched the explosions of cannons fall on both sides, as some landed close to their position. "Doc? How's it looking?" asked Smoke, somewhat concerned about where they were located.

Patch sighed. "He'll live," he paused to take his temperature, "Fierfek! But not if the infection spreads to the rest of his body! We'll need to evac him to a medical facility or at least back to the Akul as soon as possible. Even then, he's going to need to be in a bacta tank for awhile."

Smoke then raised his wrist comm to his helmet, "This is Sgt. Smoke. I'm in need of an evac at my location, I have the Padawan and he needs medical attention asap" rang Smoke's voice over the comm system.

Patch sighed and put away his kit. He removed the disposable gloves and threw them aside, not giving a kriff, and sat down. "It would be best for you to inform General Kao and the commander. Arthur will be out for quite some time," said the medical officer. He glanced up at Smoke and saw something in his gaze. His brother had his helmet off now and the look on his face held the truth.

"You know, don't you?"

He nodded, then activated his wrist comm, "General we have to move Arthur, he has an infection, and we need to get him back to the Akul if we are going to stop it" Smoke told her. "Alright, sergeant, make sure he's well taken care of," her voice came back. Patch had waited for the general's reply before pressing further. "How did you find out about them?" he asked his fellow clone.

"Did you not hear about their fight? I was there from the beginning to the end. It was obvious they cared for one another, like more than cared. I don't think he knows yet though," replied Smoke, gesturing to a sleeping Arthur.

"Let's make sure he doesn't find out," Patch chuckled, holding a finger up to his lips. "But yeah, they aren't the most sneaky about it."

Just then a gunship landed not to far from them, "I think this is our ride" said Smoke. Smoke and Patch prepared to carry Arthur to the gunship and once he was secure in their grasp they started off toward it.