Chapter 3:Bly

Aayla Secura. The name sparked memories of times past, she saving him on Maridun, and the numerous times they've discussed their future after the war was over.

Not to be. Bly thought grimly, having received the order to end Secura's life.

He sighed in regret, he didn't want to kill her, she had become not only his leader, but a close friend. A friend who listened to any and all his problems, and did all she could to solve them. Bly was proud to have her as a general.

Shaking his helmeted head slightly, his feelings washing away at the movement, he had to blast her.

He along with his lieutenants stood behind the general, all of them having received the order. Further from them, Bly knew that Galle would follow his orders regarding padawan Barriss Offee.

He looked back towards his general, his decision had been made. He had to follow his gut, and he was damn sure going to.

Pressing his hand to his helmet he activated the internal comm., opening up a channel with his men.

"Move up around behind her, you aim must be true men." Bly ordered his heart heavy.

His men moved into a circle behind General Secura and raised their blasters, preparing to shoot while the Jedi's back was turned.

Upon hearing the click of blasters being readied, Secura was startled.

It was all the opportunity Bly needed.

"Fire!" He roared into his comm.

Secura had no time to react, the bolts striking her body, twisting as she fell. Bly saw a glimpse of a frown upon her face; it caused his heart to ache. But, he had to do this.

Once Secura was lying on the damp soil motionless, Bly motioned to one of his men.

"Check her." He said gruffly, trying to hide the emotion in his voice.

The trooper moved towards and knelt down next to the unmoving forum.

"She's alive." The trooper said, sounding almost relieved.

Bly himself sighed in enormous relief, his plan had worked. He had to make her death look real, for the sake of the general, for the sake of his men, hell, for the sake of all of them.

"Good work lads." Bly praised his men, a smile forming on his chapped lips. Moving towards the still body of Aayla, Bly knelt down and gently cradled her head in his gloved hands. "Load her up, gently, I will contact Galle. We must be quick before others notice." The troopers nodded their agreement and set about following their orders. Bly moved away to make a quick holocall to his second in command.

"Yes sir?" Galle responded to Bly's message.

"Was your mission a success?" Bly questioned, hoping that his plan had worked fully.

"Yes it was sir, Offee is here… but she's a little upset." Bly could hear the amusement in the young clone's voice, Offee and Galle had grown close as of late.

Bly lightly chuckled at the implication. "You two report to our position, we must get off world as soon as possible. I will explain everything to Offee once Secura wakes."

"Sir yes sir!" Galle responded, giving a salute, before signing off.

"Sir what are we going to do." Bly turned around at the voice; his gaze fell upon Kinker, one of the only ones that had been with him from the beginning.

Putting a hand on Kinker's shoulder Bly replied, " Kinker we're going to do what we've always done, survive. Sure it may not me fun, but we will make it through this."

"But… but sir, I'm not ready to kill my brothers." Kinker said his voice sullen and sad.

Bly also thought of the action. Would he have to kill his brothers who saw the Jedi as a threat? He knew the answer was yes, but he wish it weren't. He cursed his brothers who couldn't see reason or freedom beyond the military bondage they'd been born into.

"Kinker, we may, but we can hold out hope that the lot of our brothers have seen reason and logic rather than follow orders blindly." Bly gave the clone a reassuring shake before letting his hand fall away.

"Alright sir, I hope so." Kinker said before walking off, in his mind, Bly hoped so too.

The 327th remained on Felucia until dusk, when Secura began to stir.

"Sir she's waking!" One of the medics shouted.

Bly, Galle, Offee, and a number of his other men ran over to the cot the Jedi was currently laying on.

She stirred for a few more moments before her eyes shot open and she gasped.

Bly was there immediately, pressing her gently back down onto the cot.

"General Secura! General you need to calm down! Aayla!", Bly shouted, that did the trick, her eyes widened in shock before she lay back down.

"Why?" She whispered hoarsely. The single word broke Bly's heart.

"Because I couldn't stand to see you die." Bly said truthfully. "Your death was ordered by the Chancellor himself, but I couldn't do it, none of us could."

The men around the cot nodded in agreement.

It was Offee who broke the silence.

"So why don't you tell us why you shot Aayla with stun bolts?" Her question was sharp with anger.

It was Galle who answered, much to Bly's relief.

"Because you along with any other Jedi in existence were just ordered to be killed, by your own men I may add. The Chancellor said it was because you'd betrayed the Republic, and no doubt, many of our brothers believed him. However, we Star Corps troopers hold no such view, you've fought with us for years and we've seen the Jedi lay their lives on the line like we clones do. It's impossible that those who fought for the Republic would betray it. We don't know what's going on, but we don't intend to kill our allies and friends." Even though his helmeted head, Galle's voice was full of pride and determination.

Offee smiled and patted the clone on his shoulder plate. "Thank you, all of you." She said, a smile as wide as a moon appearing on her face.

Bly felt encouraged, and gave a nod of his head. He looked down, taking off his helmet he stared into the depths of his general, his friend.

"General, I'm sorry." He croaked, overcome with emotion, even though it hadn't killed her, the sight of her men with blasters pointed towards her would stick with her, the thought made Bly shake.

A reassuring hand was put on his shoulder; Bly stilled and looked down in shock at the small smile upon Aayla's face. For a moment there was silence, only the faint rustling of Bly's kama was heard.

"Enough moping Bly," Secura said in a soft playful tone, "I'm still here, and am honored that you saved not only my life but that of my padawan as well, you went against your training. I'm proud, of all of you." Secura looked around, staring at each and every clone, giving them a look of reassurance and pride. "My boy's are the best." Secura said before lying gently back down.

The statement shocked all the clone's standing near, how General Secura referred to them, not as troopers, soldiers, but as boys. Her tone was almost that of a mother of older sister.

It suddenly dawned on Bly as it did the other members of the 327th Star Corps.

They were family, and nothing would break that.