It was a heart clenching journey for Brook among the tree-roads of Kashyyyk.

The repulsor lift was rumbling along, people waving around them in the dimming light of the evening. None of them paid any close attention to the small group.

He kept close to the crates, pretending to watch the cargo so it did not slide off, but truly the smells and noises of the jungle made Brook nervous. A bird screeched, flew across the path. In the misty air it seemed to appear out of nothing. Brook jumped, bumping into the lifter.

Vau grumbled, gave him a shove when he fell back a few steps. "I knew we should have left him home."

Biting his lip Brook stepped further away from the lifter. Vau's eyes seemed to heat up the back of Brook's neck.

He did not want to be send back. Combat was what he had been made for, even if he did not have his brother's training that was all he could ever do, right? Still he had never been on a planet like this, all he had ever seen was the rural Mandalore and the station where he had been vatted in.

So Brook straightened up, remembered one of Kal's brief lessons on psychology. 'Match your physical form to the mental state you want. Your mind will follow your body.'

Although it felt like it helped Brook still felt his heart pounding. "I can't wait to unpack these." He said quietly, heard the murmured agreement from his brothers and even from Vau behind him.

The intensity of the man's gaze seemed to lessen a bit as they turned into smaller and smaller pathways, duracrete turning into more traditional wood planks.

Finally, the only illumination coming from the windows of the wooden huts, Vau ordered them to a halt and knocked on a door.

A Wookie opened, pulled the lift inside with one giant paw, and waved them inside. Brook paused briefly, taking in the hut they were in. It seemed to consist solely out of wood.

Brook wanted to run his hands over the walls, felt a deep seated urge to feel the materials and ask the Wookie how it had been made. He couldn't see a single nail or anything made out of metal to hold everything together.

It was strange, foreign and Brook found it fascinating, loved it, wanted to know more about how it was made and inhaled deeply, closing his eyes for a moment. It smelled a bit like fur, but quite different from the smell of their bantha or Mird at home.

Then he joined Boss, Fixer and Scorch. They had already opened the crates, were now stripping out of their civilian clothing an pulled on their kit.

Their host growled, then gestured at Vau and the two continued to fix the last remnants of their transaction.

The clones mostly ignored them while they kitted up. Brook sighed as Fixer hold his backplate up so that Brook could clip the plate into place. It felt natural, right to be finally inside his cocoon. It felt safe as he picked up his helmet and slipped it on, saw the HUD flickering on.

"Well then." Vau slid the last of several knifes on his belt, "Our friend here will see to it that the stuff that should go to the resort will go there and get us to the lower levels. "

Brook had felt like his DC 15 and small side-arm had been enough and the DC-17 of his brothers had seemed like a small arsenal which, considering all possible uses, it truly was.

The Sarge on the other hand seemed to hide more knifes and pistols than should fit on him in addition of his favoured blaster.

"Won't it be watched?" He asked, before remembering that the men in front of him was not the supportive Kal Skirata with his soft spot for clones.

Luckily, Vau seemed to be in a good mood and deemed Brook's question intelligent enough to answer. "It should be, but they aren't to interested in anyone crazy enough to subject themselves to the things down there."

Brook gulped, gripping his DC tighter.

A.N.:

So, finally, finally we are getting to the fun part.

Fr anyone wondering about Brook's step backwards in his development, well he is out of his depth in the new surroundings and people tend to fall back into familiar patterns when unsettled. (I hope I could bring this over right here,)

I would love to hear from you (and sorry, sorry sorry that his is another filler of sorts, there will be nasties in the next chapter.)

Also, there is a hint here about Brook's future. No spoilers, just a hint. Who can find it?