Chapter Sixty-Four: Hardcase

"Are we sure Hardcase should be the one trying this first?" I asked, watching as the tattooed clone sat in the pilot's chair of an Umbaran starfighter.

"Hey, I already flew one of these," he called back, the seat lifting to place him in the ray-shielded orb.

"If you called that flying," I muttered, but let it slide. I leaned against the console, watching Fives as he worked to keep an eye on things.

"All right," the ARC trooper announced, the power surging to life as he seemed to hit the right button. "Okay, there. Try that out. It should be a little easier than last time."

"I wonder why that is," I teased, wiggling my eyebrows at my friend. He rolled his eyes, but we all knew that my bypassing the Umbaran fail-safes had made our further exploration of the starfighters even possible.

The ship rose steadily under Hardcase's guidance, but it didn't take long to start looking a bit rocky in the air. "Keep her steady," I yelled up, hearing him mumble something in response. If it was to himself or me, I couldn't be sure.

He seemed to get it….for a second.

And then the ship was careening sideways, swiping over piles of crates and nearly taking out clones. "Get down!" I yelled, dragging Fives sideways to barely avoid being taken out by the wing as the starship scraped past.

"Hardcase," Fives cried up at his brother, "What are you doing?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be doing it!"

I rolled my eyes, stepping out from behind the ARC trooper to try and instruct Hardcase as best I could. This was why I wanted to be the first one to pilot. "Keep your hands level!"

He didn't seem to hear me, the starfighter still wreaking havoc as it crashed around the hangar. "Great," Fives grumbled beside me. "This can't get much worse."

A beeping went off, both of us whirling to see a trooper at a console, trying to connect with the command tower. "Osik," I cussed, hitting Fives' shoulder to get him to move. "Handle that, I'll get Hardcase under control."

Fives didn't argue, running over to shove the clone out of his way. I heard Krell's voice on the other side, my efforts doubling to get Hardcase to control the ship. Fives did his best to stumble through lies as Hardcase knocked over another starship.

"That didn't work," I heard him exclaim from inside.

I darted across the hangar, scaling the toppled starfighter and using it to launch from. I jumped to Hardcase's craft as he spun by, barely gripping the wing. "Level your-" My yell was interrupted as Hardcase clenched his hand, the starship firing wildly. "Not that!" I cried as we spun through the air. We knocked into walls and other fighters, making me have to pin my body between the cockpit and the wing. "Level your hands!" I screamed through the rayshield, the clone obeying.

He got some control, a grin wrinkling the skin around his eyes. "Okay. How about this?" He clenched his hand into a fist again, turning it in the navigation orb. The missile launcher beside me engaged.

"Hardcase!" I screamed, the launcher beside me getting hot.

"Oh, no, no!" I heard him yell. But it was too late. I leapt from my place on the wing, falling hard to the hangar floor in a calculated roll. "No! No! No! No! No!" The starfighter hit the wall behind it, the missile launching and decimating the hangar door in a rather satisfying explosion.

"We are so screwed," I muttered from my place in the ground as Hardcase seemed to finally get control of the vessel.

"I got it. I got it," he announced. "Just level your hands." He set the fighter down with a thud as Fives approached, my eyes rolling.

"I've been saying that," I grumbled, cracking my back as I stood.

"Are you crazy?" Fives asked as he approached us, Hardcase getting out of the starfighter. "You could have gotten us killed! Not to mention ruining our hopes of flying this mission."

Hardcase rose from his seat, waving his hand dismissively in the air. "It's a malfunction. No harm done."

"Explain this. Now." I jumped at Krell's voice, having not sensed his approach. Wow….my senses really were clouded here. The Besalisk was pissed off, if nothing else, Rex behind him with a disappointed look on his face.

I chewed the inside of my cheek as I stood slightly behind Fives and Hardcase. Krell's gaze flicked dangerously to me, but I kept silent.

Hardcase stepped forward first. "Sir, we were decrypting the enemy craft when what appears to be a booby trap went off." He folded his hands behind his back, selling his lie well. I fought back the grin that threatened to lift my lips.

"A booby trap?" Krell repeated.

"Yes, sir. The fighter went haywire and had I not been able to get control of it and aim the missile at the doors, then something worse….might have happened." Okay, that part wasn't sold quite as well, but Krell seemed to accept Hardcase's story.

"Is this true?" he asked Fives.

"Uh-" Fives started. "Yes, sir." Krell's gaze flicked to me, but I only nodded mutely, averting my gaze. I felt Krell ripple with pleasure at that. I fought back the urge to shoot him again. "That is what happened," Fives responded. "No doubt."

Behind Krell, Rex gave us all a disbelieving scowl. How little Krell thought of the clones was his own downfall in this situation. Rex knew entirely how clever and mischievous the clones could be. Especially Fives and Hardcase.

Krell didn't. Nor did he expect it.

"Well, Captain Rex," Krell said, the captain straightening under the general's gaze. "Looks like I was correct." I frowned, unsure. "The Umbaran fighters are dangerous and not fit for flight." Ah. So Krell accepted the story because it benefited him.

If it hadn't, I had a feeling we'd all have been court martialed by now.

"But sir," Hardcase spoke up, "We now know how they work. We just need practice." I glanced at the ground, knowing Krell wouldn't agree.

"Sir," I spoke up, surprising even myself. "I understand your reasoning for not wanting them to go. They're not pilots. But if I may, I'm a trained pilot, and a pretty good one at that. I could take a fighter and-"

"Absolutely not." I stopped at Krell's harsh tone, the Besalisk whirling to glare at me. "I made the mistake of trusting you before, Sithling, and I will not be making that mistake again." He was practically hissing at me, but I kept the scowl from my expression. I'd learned to keep my face placid as a slave, after all. "Lock down these fighters," he commanded as he walked away, ending the discussion. "I don't want anything else exploding."

The clones looked to their captain expectantly, but Rex only rolled his eyes tiredly. He didn't look at me as he turned to follow his general from the hangar.

"Nice work," Fives grumbled as he hit Hardcase in the shoulder. "Now we know how to fly them and we won't be able to get near them."

Hardcase sat, rolling his eyes at his brother. "Oh, come on, that won't stop us. It's just procedure. We can sneak in and be out before Krell knows anything."

I crossed my arms. "I am pretty good at stealing things," I added with a grin.

We all turned to the sound of clapping, seeing an amused Jesse approach. "I thought the plan was to destroy the enemy ship with the fighters," he clapped Hardcase on the back with a laugh, "Not blow up our own hangar."

"Look, I agree we should go through with this," Fives cut in, all business, "So are you three volunteering to be my pilots or what?"

"I'm in," Hardcase smiled, "Regardless of the consequences."

Jesse crossed his arms. "Flying these fighters beats blindly walking into a bunch of missiles, so I'm in."

They all looked at me, to which I shrugged. "I've been in on this plan from the beginning. And I won't just sit here while Krell sends you all to your deaths." Fives nodded at me in thanks.

"We just need a plan," Jesse mused.

Fives grinned. "Already got one. General Skywalker blew up a droid control ship when he was just a kid, and he told me the trick was hitting their main reactor from the inside." My brow lifted in mild amusement. Partially at the fact that Anakin was apparently good at this fighting stuff before becoming the Jedi Knight I knew him to be. And partially at the fact that Anakin clearly liked to gloat by telling that story.

"Oh," Hardcase chuckled. "Well, that won't be so tough."

Fives breathed slowly. "Gear up and meet at the fence. We should catch Rex before he goes on patrol." I tensed, but did my best to disguise it.

The others nodded, heading off to the barracks where they were supposed to be. Fives remained with me, cutting me a glance. "What?" I asked gruffly, not turning to look at him.

"You don't seem excited to tell Rex."

"Why would we?" I asked, shrugging. "He doesn't agree with us doing it anyways."

Fives watched me for a moment before sighing. "He agrees it's a good plan."

"But it's not Krell's plan."

"You know better than most that Rex struggles with this." His voice was soft. I knew he was frustrated, too, but he loved his brother. And he respected him. Just like I did. Still, I didn't respond, nodding mutely as I led us from the hangar.

We met the others at the fence, Fives thankfully dropping the conversation. We followed the patrol out, seeing Rex's armor from behind. He turned, seeing us approaching in our full armor, my mask and goggles on to hide my expression.

"Fives," Rex said, still ignoring me. "What are you doing out here? You should all be in the barracks."

"I found my pilots," Fives responded simply, a flash of fear coursing through Rex when he realized I was one of them. "We're going after that supply ship."

Rex removed his helmet, stepping us all to the side. "Are you out of your minds? It's a suicide mission, not to mention against orders." His eyes flicked to me for the first time when he said 'suicide mission.'

"It's the right thing to do," Fives said firmly.

"We have to try," Jesse spoke up beside me.

Rex was quiet. When he spoke, his voice was soft. "It sounds like you intend to go through with it."

"If you're going to try to stop us," Fives announced, "We need to know."

The captain closed his eyes slowly, letting out a sigh. "I can't help you when you get caught."

"I understand, sir." Fives turned, leading the others back towards the airbase. And to our….suicide mission. I stayed for a second longer, watching Rex from behind my goggles.

I turned, but stopped at his voice. "Kida-" he seemed hesitant to continue. I stayed still, not turning around to look at him.

"I'm doing this, Rex."

"I know." He sounded broken and my heart immediately began to ache. I turned, seeing his eyes downcast. "I just wish-"

"I know," I said softly, taking a step closer. There were no clones near us, all of them having spread out to sweep the perimeter under Rex's command.

"You could die."

"If we don't do this, we're all guaranteed to die when we march on the capital," I argued gently. There was no fire in my voice anymore, my anger depleted with my energy. And with the reality that I might not come back from the mission. I might not come back to Rex.

Rex breathed slowly. "Even if you succeed, do you realize what you're doing?" I was quiet, knowing he'd fill the silence with his answer. "You'll all be court martialed. You'll be imprisoned or worse-" his voice cut out with emotion, his head turning to hide his features in shadow. When he spoke again, his words were quiet. They sounded...young. "I don't want to add your name to the list I say at night." He shook his head. "I won't."

I surged forward, grabbing the clone roughly by the armor and pulling him to me. Pressing my lips to his, I poured out all of my emotions into his skin. My fear of never seeing him again. My anger at Krell. My sorrow at the men we'd already lost.

When we parted, we were breathless both from the kiss and the daring of doing such a thing in the open. Still, I felt like I had little to lose, considering the fate Rex had explained for me. I wrapped my arms around his armored shoulders, holding him to me, my face nestled in his neck.

He smelled like sweat and battle, but the underlying scent of my captain was in there too. The sterility of his armor. The oil he rubbed into his pistols. There was even a small hint of the soaps he used in the fresher at my club apartment.

When I finally pulled away, Rex seemed reluctant to let go despite the risk of being seen. I looked into his eyes, trying to express my love with only a look. "I understand. But I can't sit here and let you march to your death when there's something I could do to prevent it." I shook my head. "I don't want you on my list, either." Rex didn't seem to have words, the golden gaze sad, but resigned to my decision. "Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum."

I turned and ran back towards the airbase.

When I caught up to the others, they were making their way across the base towards four Umbarans starfighters. We moved quickly, staying out of sight as we hopped into the pilot seats.

I had yet to be in one, but figured it out quickly as I was surrounded by the ray shield and placed inside the ship. It came to life with a low hum, navigation orbs appearing around my hands. I leveled my hands, lifting them steadily to bring the starfighter to a higher altitude. I glanced over the base, thinking for a moment that I might have seen Rex's armor somewhere.

I punched it, the starship taking me and the clones far from the base and up towards the atmosphere. "Woah," I whistled into the comms, "These things really have a kick to them."

"These things are trickier than I imagined," Jesse admitted from his fighter. "I hope this is a good idea!"

"Well, it's better than Krell's plan," Fives shot back.

"You know, I'm only doing this because I don't like him." I laughed at Jesse's words, letting them ease the tension from the situation.

"That's reason enough," Fives said.

Hardcase's laugh sounded through the comms. "I'm just doing it for fun!"

We came up through the clouds, emerging to find a battle raging in the sky. "Woah!" Fives yelled. "What the-" The battle before us was massive, filled with various star destroyers and Separatist command ships alike. Missiles and lasers were speckling the sky like a light show. "Try to fly steady," Fives commanded. "We're going in."

"Form up on me," I chimed in, guiding my craft into the leading position. "And on one fire. The Umbarans think we're on their side and our guys think we're the enemy. Draw as little attention as possible."

"Yes, sir," they all responded immediately, doing their best to fall into formation. The formality was weird between us, but I ignored it for now. Surviving was the first thing on my list.

I led us through the battle, skirting along edges of Separatist ships to try and get some cover. "I'm really not liking this," Hardcase announced as we dipped under a Republic starship that crashed into the Separatist hangar in a ball of flames.

"Easy, Hardcase," Fives replied. "Don't get an itchy trigger finger."

I ignored them, focusing on guiding us through the hellish battle. I tuned the clones out, letting the Force guide my hands in the navigation orbs. A squad of Umbarans formed up on our right flank, Jesse's ship shifting nervously.

"Easy," I said gently into the comms, feeling the clones' nerves. "Don't react." After a moment, the squadron peeled off to engage more fighters.

"Looks like they think we're Umbaran, alright," Jesse observed with a small sigh of relief.

"Supply ship dead ahead," I announced as it came into view.

"Let's do this," Hardcase responded, pushing his thrusters harder to race towards the hangar.

We entered the ship at break-neck speed, not daring to slow down and risk being identified. We blew past some droids, a few shattering under the impact of our wings. Alarms blared, the droids opening fire in a hailstorm of red bolts.

"Well, they know we're here," I announced, guiding my ship around the curve of the hangar.

Ahead, the hangar doors were beginning to close. "Why did they have to go and do that?" Hardcase asked before clenching his fist, sending ahead to obliterate the obstacle. I dipped sideways, barely avoiding the exploding debris.

One piece hit Hardcase's wing, making it erupt in smoke. "Careful!" I yelled, still careful as I flew at an impossibly fast speed.

"Reactor core locked," Fives voiced as we drew closer to the core. "Prepare missiles." The core came into view. "Fire!"

I thrust my clenched hand forward, missiles launching from all of our vessels...only to strike a crimson ray shield. "Heads up!" I pulled back hard, my ship swirling with the momentum as I stopped just before the ray shields.

I turned my ship to the approaching army of droids, opening fire on their numbers with the blasters. "This might have been a bad idea after all," Fives admitted to my dismay.

"Our shields are sure taking a beating," Jesse cried, my own alarms sounding inside my ship.

"We can't turn back now!" I turned in my seat to see Hardcase leaping from his ship. "Cover me!"

"Hardcase get back in your ship," Fives cried, but he was ignored.

"This is for the 501st! Don't wait for me!" I watched in horror as Hardcase pulled his damaged missile launched from the wing of his ship, guiding around the access door and past the ray shields.

"Hardcase!" I screamed as I moved my ship into position to shield him better. "No!"

"You've disobeyed enough orders today, sir," he said, glancing between all of us with a warm smile. "Follow this one. Get out of here!"

My heart clenched as I kept firing at the droids, my eyes growing wet as the Force grew darker….as it always did around those that were heading to their death.

"If I know Hardcase," Jesse said through the comms, his voice solemn, "We better leave."

I knew he was right. I pushed my fists forward, my ship launching back down the hangar with Fives and Jesse. The reactor exploded moments after, my goggles fogging with my tears. I shook them away, my ship rumbling at the explosion chased after us, licking at our thrusters.

We made it out, the supply ship crumbling in a fury of orange and yellow. Despite the victory, my heart ached as we slowed over the airbase.

The ships landed with a thud, Five leaping down immediately. He was greeted by Rex and Tup, both of whom looked pleased to see us. I stayed in my seat as I was slowly lowered from the starfighter, my heart heavy.

"They did it," I heard Tup exclaim, the young clone rushing up to meet Fives and Jesse. I stayed behind, watching with a sad gaze. I knew we'd saved a lot of lives….but losing Hardcase was something I'd hoped to avoid by doing the mission.

And I couldn't shake the feeling that if I had acted faster….thought quicker….maybe I could have saved him.

"Where's Hardcase?" Tup's question made me look down at my hands in sorrowful thought.

Fives and Jesse removed their helmets, the former responding, "He didn't make it."

Their eyes were downcast. "We couldn't have done it without him," Jesse said sadly. Rex looked down for a moment before lifting his eyes to me. He seemed glad I was alive, but worried.

There was the hiss of doors, revealing two armed clones approaching, led my Appo. I stood from my seat slowly, already knowing what this would be.

"General Krell would like to see them in the tower," Appo announced, glancing over Fives, Jesse, and I.

Rex gave us all a worried glance before nodding at the soldier. "I'll escort them up." The clones left us, the captain dismissing Tup as we entered the lift at the base of the tower.

I kept my eyes straight, not wanting to show Rex the nerves I was feeling. I knew he was already worrying. That wasn't something I wanted to make worse.

The doors snapped open with a hydraulic hiss. Krell stood in the center of the room with his back to us, examining a hologram of the planet. "You...wanted to see them, sir?"

"Indeed," the Besalisk responded, not turning to us. We all exchanged a glance. "It seems they have accomplished a very brave act. Unfortunately, they've also committed a serious crime by directly disobeying my order." He turned to look at us, acting as if this was difficult for him to admit. I couldn't even hide the scowl on my face.

"With all due respect, sir," Rex said, stepping forward to my surprise. "The order to attack the cargo vessel was mine."

"Rex," I hissed, my anger flaring. Him taking the fall with me would do nothing for us. I could maybe get out of this, as a contracted bounty hunter. But Rex?

But the captain wouldn't be deterred. "If there's a punishment to be given, it should be directed towards me. I'm their commanding officer."

Fives stepped forward before I could. "General, sir, Captain Rex is attempting to take the blame for actions that were clearly mine."

"Fives," Rex bit, much like I had the moment before.

The ARC trooper glanced at him, but wouldn't be silenced. "I request that his admission of guilt be denied and full blame placed upon me." I shook my head, but still could say nothing as Krell spoke.

"Oh, do you?" he asked, arms crossed before him. "You willfully countermand my direct order, and now you have the audacity to request who should bare the punishment of your insurrection!" I flinched, watching Krell out of the corner of my eye as he moved to stand in front of Rex. "Let me be clear about the punishment for the treason committed by ARC Trooper 5555 and CT-5597." The Besalisk paused, glancing at me. "And Kida Fett." I swallowed, but didn't break our gaze. He looked away to glare at Rex again. "They will be court-martialed, they will be found guilty, and they will be executed!"

Rex's mind blossomed with anger and fear….but also resignation. This was as much a punishment for him as it was for us. Krell knew that.

"Make no mistake," he growled, turning back to his holograms as clones appeared behind us with binders. "For crossing me, you will pay the price."

MANDO'A

Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum - I love you