Death's Choice
By Ammie Hawk
Disclaimer: I honestly own absolutely nothing.
AN: I don't normally do this, but I apologize for the delay in this chapter. It has been fighting me for over a month, and I also had to deal with moving halfway across the county because life is a bitch like that. Anyway, enough of my woes, let's move on to someone else's.
Chapter 11: Calm Before the Storm
Boba looked up as his father returned from wherever he'd disappeared to when they arrived on planet. Only he wasn't alone. What the hell was Harry doing there? Before he could gather his thoughts and put voice to his questions, his friend was unceremoniously put down next to him and his father disappeared into one of the other rooms. As the door hissed closed behind his father, his gaze drifted over to the younger boy.
"Hi, Boba," Harry greeted happily.
"What are you doing here, Nehutyc?" the older boy blurted out, a frown marring his features.
"Oh," the other's face fell at his tone. "I'm sorry. I… I can go. I won't bother you. You won't even know I'm here."
"What?! No!" he reached out and grabbed the other boy's arm as he started to rise, almost causing him to crash into him. "I didn't say that. I mean, I thought you were with Kote and Rex, so did dad, so what are you doing here?"
"Oh, that," the green gaze drifted downward and began playing with his hands. "I was kidnapped."
"You were kidnapped?!" brown eyes widened in shocked horror. "How? Why? By who? How did dad even find you?"
"I wasn't really kidnapped," the younger boy fidgeted slightly. "Mr. Kenobi didn't know I belonged there so he took me with him till he found out where to take me."
"Why wouldn't he know you belonged there?" his look turned dubious. "Even if you didn't tell him, all he had to do was ask a trainer or any of the clones. Hell, dad would've told him that."
"I don't know," he shrugged. "I was kinda freaking out at the time, and he said it was because I didn't look like them."
"That's not a good excuse," Boba scowled. "Though if you were really freaking out I guess I could understand a bit."
"What's that supposed to mean?" a pout formed on the younger boy's face. "I don't freak out that bad."
"Yeah, Nehutyc, you kinda do," he scoffed. "When you're mad or upset things tend to start flying around. And when you get really freaked you do the impossible. I mean, come on, you appeared out of thin air the night you got adopted. And of course no one can understand you when you get like that."
"I'm not a baby," the pout deepened, contradicting his protests.
"I'm not talking about crying," brown eyes rolled in annoyance. "Though, you are a big crybaby. But when you really freak, you start babbling in a language no one understands. I've heard dad talk about it with your dad. Hell, he's even brought Seventeen in a few times."
"I spoke a different language?" Harry's brows drew together in confusion. "But—I didn't—how can I speak a language without knowing I can speak it?"
The words rang with a sense of déjà vu through the little raven's head. As he tried to think about when he would've had the occasion to even have that type of conversation, an intense, throbbing pain started up behind his eyes. He reached up and grabbed his head, barely managing to bite back a whine as the pain intensified. Damn, he hadn't had a headache like this in months. Not since Kix had figured out he had amnesia, and taught him a few preventative techniques, since they only seemed to happen when he tried to remember something specific.
"You have amnesia, Nehutyc," the older boy continued, either oblivious to or choosing to ignore his friend's pain, but Harry didn't mind, Boba was just like that and he appreciated the sense of normalcy. "There's a lot of things about yourself you don't know. Dad says it's probably from wherever you're from, but until you remember we can't know for sure, since it's not one he or anyone else he knows recognized. Though, if you do remember, you should totally teach me cause then we could have this language that nobody understands and we can send secret messages back and forth."
He couldn't stop the startled laugh that bubbled out of him, driving the pain back, "I'll try to remember that."
"Good," the other nodded decisively. "So dad killed that asshole, right?"
"No," the younger boy shook his head. "I asked him not to. What?" he defended at the other's pointed look. "He said he was sorry and he promised to take me back."
"You are way too soft and trusting," Boba shook his head. "We're gonna have to toughen you up if we're gonna be the best bounty hunters in the galaxy."
"Who said I want to be a bounty hunter?"
"Well, I'm gonna be the best bounty hunter in the galaxy," the older boy puffed up proudly. "And if you want to tag along you're going to have to toughen up because I won't always be able to watch your back."
"I'll show you watch your back," he huffed indignantly, as he launched himself at the other boy.
Boba toppled over with a startled yelp, and he tried to toss the much smaller boy off of him. Though for his size, Harry was actually pretty scrappy, and really hard to shake off. From there, they devolved into a rather rambunctious wrestling match that they only ended when Jango stormed out and physically pulled them apart.
888888
Rex paced the length of the communications room of the Venator-class Star Destroyer. They were currently headed to the planet Geonosis, though no one would tell him why.
After they had regained control of the communications, not that the long necks had gotten farther than knocking out the long range transmitter, the coup had not taken much longer. Lama Su and a great many of the Kaminoans had been taken out in the main assault, only Nala Se, Taun We, and a couple other scientists had been spared.
Many of them, by that it was an overwhelming majority, had wanted to see the head scientist dead. However, it was pointed out by Trainer Gilamar that, as head scientist, she knew everything about every aspect of the clone makeup and process, and it would be in their best interest to keep her alive, at least until they knew everything she knew. So they had begrudgingly agreed to lock her and the other, admittedly few, survivors up and placed them under the careful watch of the Nulls, who out of all of them liked the long necks the least, which was to say not at all.
When the figurative dust had settled, they had rounded up the wounded and had them taken to medical. Luckily, there had been no fatalities. From there, the able-bodied alphas, CCs, and trainers had gathered to figure out where they would go from there. The CCs wanted to contact the Republic, as they had been created as their army after all. That was immediately shot down by Skirata, who pointed out that while yes, they were technically created for the Republic's use, the Republic didn't know about them, and with the current political climate, could order their immediate termination with a flick of a pen. How he knew that, no one was sure, but he was convincing enough that Alpha agreed with him, and that plan was scrapped.
Before they could reach a consensus, however, a ship had landed and a small green troll, claiming to be a Jedi, demanded troops he could take to Geonosis. Surprisingly, Skirata and Alpha had agreed almost immediately, quickly followed by Kote. Which was how they found themselves in the current situation with two full battalions headed to Geonosis.
He had just turned to begin another circuit when the door hissed open. His eyes narrowed into a glare as Kote walked into the room.
"Kote," he growled.
"Aren't you tired of having this conversation yet, Rex?" the other quirked a brow at him curiously.
"Obviously one of us hasn't been paying attention," the blond snarled. "Why are we here, Kote? What the hell are we doing here, when we should be back on Kamino, tearing the city apart and trying to find Harry?"
"We already did that," Kote shook his head. "Or were you sleeping through the entire mutiny?"
A low growl escaped Rex's throat as he continued to glare. The brunet was acting way too blasé about this whole situation. In fact, the asshole wasn't even paying attention any more. Instead, he was fiddling with the holotable in the center of the room.
"What the hell are you doing now?" he snapped irritably.
"Waiting for you to calm down," Kote answered flippantly. "And placing a call, now that the ship can pick up a signal, but I thought that much was obvious."
"Fine," the blond forced himself to take a deep, calming breath, not that it worked well. "Who are you calling?"
"Prime," he answered, taking the victory, small that it was. "We need answers before we reach our destination. And I thought you might want to talk to Harry."
"What are you talking about?" Rex frowned, his anger giving way to confusion. "Harry's not with Prime. That was the whole reason we went to battle on Kamino."
"That's why you and I went to battle, not everyone's reason," the brunet sighed heavily, he was still coming to terms with that. "Before communications were cut, Prime contacted me and I spoke briefly with both of them. Which is why we need answers. The last thing Harry told me was that he'd been kidnapped."
"What?!" he hissed in shocked surprise. "And you're just telling me this now?"
"Opportunity," the other shook his head. "We were in the middle of a full scale rebellion, followed almost immediately by this," he waved vaguely around. "Now, we really should talk to Prime."
He hit the button to connect the transmission. It didn't take overly long for the comm to be answered.
~Fett,~ it connected as voice only. ~Who is this and what do you want?~
"Prime," the brunet replied evenly. "It's Kote. And Rex."
~It's about fucking time,~ the other growled, as a blue holo of the man flickered into being above the table. ~What the fuck is going on? What happened?~
"We'll get to that," Kote shook his head. "Where's Harry?"
~He's sleeping,~ Prime ran his hand through his hair. ~And no, I'm not going to wake him up just so you can talk to him. He's been through a lot.~
"I want to see him," the blond demanded, stepping into view.
~Fine,~ the older male snapped. ~But if you wake him or Boba up, I'll fly straight back to Kamino and kill you both myself.~
He must have been walking as he spoke because as soon as he finished he held up his hand to keep them from responding. A moment later, the image shifted from Prime to reveal two small figures curled up on a cot together and very obviously asleep. Both men on the other end of the comm visibly relaxed at the sight. The older male took this as permission to leave the room and the sleeping boys in peace.
~Now,~ he commanded once he deemed them far enough away, ~tell me what the fuck is going on. It sounded like there was a full on battle going on, not just a simulation.~
"Kote led a mutiny," Rex smirked and there was a proud glint in his eye.
"Don't start with that," the younger brunet turned a dark scowl on the other. "You were the one pushing for it. I just had the command clout to pull it off."
~Enough,~ Prime held up his hand, cutting them off before the argument could devolve any further. ~I gave Seventeen explicit instructions to not let you two do anything stupid.~
"Oh, Alpha was all for it," the blond replied readily. "As long as we made it interesting."
~Of course he was,~ the bounty hunter scoffed. ~Tell me what happened.~
Both clones immediately snapped to attention at the implicit order laced through his tone.
"Lama Su is dead," Kote reported dutifully. "Nala Se, Taun We, and a few others are all that remain within the city. They are in our custody and under heavy guard. Tipoca City is ours. The rest of Kamino will follow shortly, once those we left behind finish the assault."
There was no doubt in the younger brunet's thoughts about the outcome, and Prime couldn't help but agree with the assessment. Though, as fucked up as the entire situation was, there were a few things that didn't make sense to him.
~Not that I agree with or condone your decision to do a hostile takeover of Kamino,~ he raked his hand through his hair, ~what's done is done. But why in the name of all hells would you keep Nala Se alive?~
"It wasn't our first decision," the CC shrugged. "But Trainer Gilamar made some good arguments, so for now we're holding her prisoner."
~He would,~ brown eyes rolled in exasperation. ~So what now? Who's in charge?~
"We haven't quite figured that out yet," Kote shook his head. "For the moment, Alpha and Skirata are coordinating things until we return."
~Return?~ a dark brow rose in question, seemingly thrown off his current thought process. ~And where exactly are you that you have to return?~
"That's the thing," the blond finally interjected again. "We barely managed to secure the city when a green troll showed up, said he was a Jedi, and this idiot decided we were taking troops to Geonosis."
~I see,~ the older man frowned contemplatively. ~I think we can use this.~
"Use it later," Rex scowled, now that the sitrep was finished he wanted one of his own. "It's now your turn to explain. How did Harry end up with you? Kote said he was kidnapped."
~Right,~ Prime sighed tiredly. ~When Seventeen first contacted me about Harry's disappearance, I had my suspicions. Harry's abilities make him special.~
"We know that," the blond growled impatiently.
A dark glare leveled at him from the holo, ~You wanted to hear this so don't interrupt.~
A mutinous look crossed his features, but he decided to comply with the order, for now.
~Good,~ the older male nodded. ~His abilities make him special, but I also knew from the moment I found out about them they would also make him a target. That's why I wanted to make sure you were ready to protect him.
~Now, Jedi have a bad habit of taking force-sensitive younglings away from their families and brainwashing them in that temple of theirs. I knew they would eventually be coming to claim the army, and I hoped you two would be able to protect him from them. Of course, I thought I'd be there to assist. However, circumstances being what they were, I didn't have time to check on him before I had to leave. But when Boba told me he hadn't seen him, I guess I wrongly assumed he was with one of you.~
"Wait," Rex held up his hand, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "You're telling us that a Jedi kidnapped our son? And that this is a common occurrence? You knew all this and you neglected to tell us this could be an eventuality?"
~You wouldn't have listened!~ the bounty hunter snapped. ~I know what those fucking long necks have been teaching you about the Jedi. The damn near godlike worship they instilled in the troops made it impossible.~
"Enough!" Kote cut in before his counterpart could respond. "As you said, what's done is done. We know now and we won't let it happen again. Right now, Harry is safe and we are in route to retrieve him."
~Why did you agree to come here?~ Prime frowned. ~You couldn't have known Harry was here. I didn't tell anyone where I was going.~
"Alpha implied it would be in our best interest to be the ones leading this campaign," the younger brunet shrugged.
~Of course,~ the bounty hunter huffed. ~I suppose I'll be seeing you soon enough then. I'll keep Harry safe until you get here.~
"You'd better," Kote leveled him with a steady glare. "Otherwise, I won't even try to stop Rex from hunting you down."
~Noted,~ the older male nodded before cutting the transmission.
The two clones stared at the now dark holotable before turning their gazes on each other.
"You really mean that?" the blond asked after a moment.
"Mean what?" the other frowned slightly.
"You'd really let me hunt down Prime?" he clarified.
"Rex," the brunet chuckled, "if Prime let anything happen to Harry, which we both know he won't, I'd help you hunt him down. In the meantime, we should both get some sleep."
"I'm fine," Rex growled. "I can sleep once Harry is back with us."
"You're no good to anyone sleep deprived, much less our son," the other's eyes narrowed dangerously. "And if you refuse to go willingly, I will drag your ass to Kix and have him sedate you. If that happens, I can't guarantee you'll be awake when we reach Geonosis."
"Fine," the blond snapped petulantly before turning on his heel and leaving the room.
Kote shook his head as he followed the other out of the room. A Commander's job was never done. Luckily for him, though, he wasn't the only one on board. He had already passed on the duties while they traveled through hyperspace, so he could take his own advice, once he made sure Rex had done as ordered.
Ammie: Okay, so aside from Jango wanting to go off on multiple tangents, which is part of the reason this chapter was so hard, there's not much to say regarding this chapter. Anyway, please let me know what you think.
