Barton IV
Rebel Base
The clone remained still; Donca checked his pulse. It was steady. His skin felt dry and warm, although his complexion was a little pale. She pulled back his eyelids to check his pupils; flashing the tiny light across them, the pupil reaction was there. He was stable but showed no signs of regaining consciousness.
Perhaps it hadn't worked.
Perhaps there was something she had missed.
She put another line in to ensure he had the fluid he needed, she couldn't lose him through lack of nutrition but there was nothing else she could think of. She didn't have any other equipment for a more detailed examination. She would have to check the medical system.
Was Finor right that she was putting too much into this? This mad plan of hers to use the clone.
If they did this— no if she did this. If she used him. Was she as bad as the Empire and the Republic, despite what she said earlier?
Perhaps it was that thought that was keeping her awake at night. Not that she could remember when she last slept through the night.
Her people bustled around her bringing her information from other cells and the clean up but it had been quiet here since the Empire finally left and there was no sign of them coming back. She had left a small force to check on the outpost. They had now returned.
She checked the Clone again. No change.
She turned around, not seeing the clone's eyes flicker rapidly from side to side under his eyelids.
"Now! Let's get all this sorted."
Finor stood at the door smiling, this was the Donca he was used to but his expression hid his underlying apprehension. He wasn't sure if Donca had cleared this action
He held the com in his hand.
They had been contacted by Fulcrum.
.
Kamino.
Mayday sat up straighter at his desk, still feeling like a three year old cadet back in his flash training but here he was faced with a Null clone explaining all the differences, the nuances, he said, in the latest tech the Republic Special Weapons Brigade had produced and which SOB had access to.
A frisson of excitement ran through him as he appreciated the items in front of them and what they could be used for. How many clankers he could kill. But as an ARC he would be expected to kill organics as well.
He liked his weapons of destruction as much as the next clone.
He turned his full attention back to the desk in front.
Wilco had asked a question, the same question three times, because he had not been satisfied with the Null's previous replies. He liked to do things correctly.
He was also a risk taker doing that.
Lieutenant N05, Prudii planted his hands on Wilco's desk and loomed over him, staring down at him. You could not see how he was going to react; Wilco looked defiantly up at him. He still appeared diminutive compared to the Null, despite him increasing his muscle bulk since he came here. Wilco had balls, Mayday would give him that. Not every trooper would stare down a Null; they had all been warned years ago that the Nulls were unpredictable and to leave them alone.
Mayday watched him carefully, there was something in the Null's manner; he seemed to be teetering on the edge. He finally narrowed his eyes as he stared at Wilco.
"I hope you're not going to be awkward, ner vod. I know several vode who can be awkward."
"Awkward, sir. That's not me. I just like doing things correctly." Wilco had an earnest look about him, as he replied.
Mayday thought it could go either way.
Prudii grinned.
Mayday let out the sigh he had been holding in and smiled.
The smile disappeared as Prudii looked up and around, fixing him with a stare.
"Problem Commander?"
How could he see that?
"No Lieutenant, carry on."
"Thank you." He replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm; the Null gave him an odd look. Mayday didn't care, he was still a Commander.
The Null dismantled the magnetic detonator in front of their eyes, watching Wilco all the time and then reassembled it. Again, never taking his eyes off the trainee ARC.
"Does that explain it any better Captain?"
"Yes sir. Much better. Thank you sir."
Prudii looked around his students, resisting the temptation to roll his eyes. Another clone had that expression down to a fine art; he wasn't going to even try to compete with him.
"And this is how you use it in this form."
He flicked the switch and a red light spun around the device once.
Mayday swallowed.
It was active.
Nobody moved.
Prudii stood up holding the detonator above his head.
"Follow me!"
Obediently they rose and followed him.
The trainer walked through the corridors of Kamino with cadets and Kaminoans leaping out of their way whenever Prudii declared, "Live ordnance." with a smile on his face.
They were right about the Nulls.
He kept his arm held high.
The only ones who didn't jump were members of Rancor battalion and Alpha who simply smiled at them.
They had seen this show before.
The group stopped outside the corridor that led to the private quarters of the Kaminoans.
Prudii slapped the detonator onto the wall, a ring of red light circled it for a few seconds, as it connected then it stopped and it disappeared. The detonator merged into the wall, its camouflage net taking over.
"Happy with its performance so far, Captain Wilco?"
"Oh yes. Thirty second fuse?" He asked with interest.
"Exactly!" replied Prudii, "Now locate it and deactivate."
Wilco glanced at Prudii then stared at the wall.
"Ten seconds!" Warned Prudii.
Wilco put his hand out and cupped something. A green light circled it as Wilco deftly deactivated it and pulled it away from the wall. He looked at the device sitting in the palm of his hand.
"Well done. Now let's try the simulation areas for different terrains." He frowned before continuing, "Pity because we could have eaten barbecued aiwha bait for dinner tonight."
Mayday suppressed his laugh because he had never heard a brother talk out loud about what he wanted to do to the Kaminisii before. He and his brothers had been on the receiving end of the Kaminoans callous training and child rearing techniques for years.
.
The next day.
Mayday rolled his shoulders before Alpha came into the training room to give them their next assignment. He had managed a shower and loaded up at breakfast which he got up early to get; he wanted to be prepared.
It was anybody's guess what this was going to be, after the training sessions they already had.
Splicing.
Heavy weapons training.
Urban fighting.
Additional medical training.
All interspersed with endurance training, it had been non stop.
Alpha strode into the training area, his face as blank as ever.
"Report to Alpha 4 landing platform. And remember—Put your fear behind you where it belongs. Blast everything in front of you into splinters. Then you'll do fine."
"Sir, Yes sir."
At other times and places, Mayday had led his brothers into combat, now he was one of a squad. When they entered the landing platform, a LAATi awaited them, engines already running.
Airborne. Thought Mayday.
They climbed in as each of them had done numerous times before and it headed upwards to the Venator circling the planet. The LAATi glided into the flight deck and, as they disembarked, they were each given their new kit.
The new armour including ARC rebreather scuba kit.
Not their normal helmets, it felt odd but he had to become accustomed to different kit.
Kitted up, they followed orders and headed to the deployment zone.
This was it. A HALO drop into Kamino's oceans.
They headed to the drop preparation area.
Mayday watched as the drop cylinders emerged from the wall, suspended from the ceiling until they reached the clones, when they rotated around and down to become horizontal at waist height.
He felt the apprehension in his stomach; this was going to be his least favourite exercise.
One slowly rotated in front of Mayday and came to a stop. He climbed in and locked himself into it, pulling his oxygen mouthpiece carefully around and biting on it, to check the flow of oxygen, then trusting Veetch, the next in line, to do a spec check on the externals of the capsule which was his life line as he headed downwards.
Mayday went through the mental checklist that Veetch was doiing, then he heard the brisk, slap of his brother's callused palm on his capsule's outer wall, confirming it was sound and secure.
This was a test of trust as well, trusting in your brother to watch your back, as they always did.
Mayday saw his brother's eyes through the clear heat and shock-resistant view plate, as if his own eyes were reflected back at him. There was a shudder and a clink and the eyes disappeared, as he felt the capsule move back into the wall on a conveyer belt.
Veetch watched the capsule disappear into the wall and turned, nodding at Wilco before following Mayday and locking himself into his own capsule. Wilco did the same for him, as he did for Mayday.
Mayday watched the flashing lights on his rudimentary control panel; there was little he could do, once deployed; he had preferred Veetch's confirmation. He sniffed, the capsule was not new but had been used on numerous previous drops and it stank of sweat and Bacta. He had been told these were new.
He inhaled deeply, part of his mind on autopilot as the rest of him went through his metal coffin's checklist.
Risk was always there. Fear a soldier's constant companion. What he felt did not matter but what he did meant everything. The capsule shuddered again, as it moved down the transport line.
The speaker in his helmet surprised him. It shouldn't.
"Estimated time of ejection one minute ten seconds."
"Copy that!" he said.
He slowed his breathing, in—out, in— out; listening to his pulse, his heart rate slowed, just as Alpha had trained them.
Wilco was right Hela's cloak was made from good soft cloth.
He wondered why he was thinking of Hela again. Her song going through his mind. It helped.
If he was going to die listening to that. It was good.
He lurched left as the capsule shifted right, rattling nearer to the end of the line.
"Thirty seconds," he was warned.
There was a whooshing sound, Mayday checked the readout again all within normal parameters. He was accelerating now, then he was slammed against the capsule walls with a massive increase in acceleration and Mayday knew he had been dropped from the ship and was heading straight down into Kamino's raging oceans.
Just as the sims had indicated.
He checked his visuals and then the viewscreen.
He was falling away from the gigantic triangular slab of metal bristling with megatons of weapons and antennae, and capable of carrying twenty thousand troops, with their weapons and supplies.
Then he hit Kamino's outer atmosphere, friction dragging at his capsule; it shuddered and Mayday realised the capsule's outer skin was warming up due to that friction. He checked his equipment as he plummeted toward the churning ocean.
Temperature, position, and acceleration.
He had a little manoeuvrability with small thrusters, powered by the onboard batteries charged up by kinetic energy to steer and keep him on target.
Everything was fine.
He could do nothing now but fall.
The thrusters ignited and rocked the capsule as he decelerated, sensors warning he was approaching the ocean.
Twenty seconds later, he struck the surface.
The capsule readouts changed, sensors revealing the capsule's skin temperature was dropping rapidly, as he was diving deep into the murky waters.
Mayday clenched his rebreather mouthpiece tightly between his teeth, testing it again to make sure that the cool wind of life-giving oxygen still flowed freely. He would have preferred his old helmet.
Red warning lights flashed.
His eyes flicked across them.
The capsule was malfunctioning, he felt the cold water seeping in at his ankles, and was aware of the drop in temperature.
The lower he got, the quicker the water would enter. He readied his rebreather.
More red lights lit up in warning.
"Kriffing cheapskates."
He knew what he had to do and completed his emergency checklist with machinelike precision, pushing buttons and pulling levers, as the water level increased. His head felt as if it was going to explode with the increased pressure. He grasped the two handles at his side tightly. They were his lifeline.
Finally, the capsule shuddered, his display counted down to zero and the hull split in two as lifesaving oxygen came through his rebreather and his helmet activated.
Icy cold water surrounded him, as the capsule top drifted away. He waited until it was clear and flipped himself around the lower part, squeezing the handles; the thrusters started up transforming his capsule into a sled.
Mayday adjusted his grip and the steering, regaining control of his fate. He looked to either side to see the other members of the squad. They too were emerging safely; their split capsules rising slowly to the surface for reuse, whilst his sank into the black depths.
"Report in!"
The series of replies showed him they had all survived the drop. There was, as always, a risk to everything they did, even the training.
This was his life, his destiny in his own hands, flanked by his brothers.
With Hela's music in his head.
It couldn't be better.
He dove downwards.
.
Training Ops Room
Alpha swivelled around to face Taun We, desperately wanting to drag the Kaminoans scrawny neck down to his level. His fists clenched at his side.
He gained satisfaction at her rapid blinking; that was her tell. When she was worried, scared. He scared her.
Rancor squad ignored him, continuing to check the feeds. This was nothing to do with them, unless it became physical.
"What the Kriff happened? All these capsules were supposed to be brand new."
Her neck swayed. She blinked rapidly again.
"We nearly lost a Commander there."
"It would have been unfortunate."
"It would have been for some." He strained against himself. All his senses told him to strangle the being in front of him but he needed to stay in control.
"Is there a problem Alpha?" Shaak Ti's voice was calmness itself.
"I was just wondering…"
How many painful ways I could kill this monstrosity.
"How a used capsule was loaded for the training exercise, when we were promised new capsules."
He felt her hand in his arm, to calm him. He knew it was pointless to shrug it off.
"I'll investigate this Alpha. Look after your men."
He turned to the feed, glancing up at Taun We talking to the Jedi. The Kaminoan was blinking rapidly again.
She was frightened of the Jedi as well.
Alpha watched the feed, observing how the trainee squads worked; they were doing well. He felt the Null stand at ease behind him muttering "Aiwha bait."
"One day, ner vod." Echoed Alpha.
"I am a patient man, ner vod. How are they doing?"
"Good."
Each sled had its own nose cam and was transmitting images into a low-frequency network, generating a fist-size hologram and feeding up to the Ops Room.
"How deep are they?"
Alpha checked the feed, "Just at their limits."
"Are they heading in the right direction?"
"Perfectly."
"Wilco on demolitions?"
"Of course."
The two ARCs watched the feed in silence, occasionally marking their datapads. Feedback would be given, they wanted to send their brothers out with the best possible chances of returning having done a good job. Brothers looked after brothers, despite their being bred to die. The Kaminoans had fostered the feeling of brotherhood deliberately but there were still variables outside their control. A brother's experiences in the galaxy at large can still mould him.
.
The area they were in became darker, lit only by the lights on the noses of their sleds.
"Demo's prepped and ready." Advised Wilco. He sounded as if he was enjoying this.
"Target identified. In five." confirmed Veetch.
"Its a go!" Confirmed Tank, the latest member of their squad.
They split up, each disappearing into the dark waters.
Coms were unreliable the farther down they went, relying on their instincts, ingrained training and the plan they had been given to follow. Finally the coms went altogether and they were left with their lights.
Mayday stopped at his given level, checking for any unwelcome wildlife. Then he saw it, the explosion, the bubbles of air billowing out. He braced himself as much as he could for the shockwave.
.
Mayday wanted to slap Wilco on the back but that was difficult under water, instead he gave him an okay sign. They were treading water half way back to the surface, they had been so far down. They had a few more minutes at this level before they reached the surface, then they had to head to the stilts. He input the grid references but they would probably be able to see them once they broke the surface.
He checked the cams, as squad leader he had access to all. No unwelcome visitors.
His HUD blinked.
"Up to the surface lads. Take it steady."
There was a steady stream of brothers heading towards the surface, his own squad and the others, having completed their mission. He followed up the rear and finally they broke through. It was raining as normal and the waves were huge rolling hills of water.
"The stilts are to the north sir." A voice declared.
"Confirmed, Sir." Wilco answered.
"Let's go. Steady state. Report every minute. In rotation. Don't want to lose anyone. Dadita from a mile out lads."
This was going to be the easy part.
They slid through the water with the aid of the sleds, bouncing up and down the huge waves. It was easier than swimming, but still hard on the arms and legs.
They reached the buoy with its beacon and hooked their safety lines on and attached their sleds.
"Everybody check in now." Mayday ordered.
The checks came through regularly. "Veetch….."
All okay.
"Lets go home."
He waited until they had started swimming and brought up the rear. There was a storm brewing and the sea was getting choppier; he watched as his brothers rose and disappeared in the huge swell of the waves, luckily no one struggled.
Finally they reached the stilts and started the final climb home.
This was hard, despite his training his body was not used to this type of work. His shoulders burnt as did his thighs, exacerbated by the effect of gravity on their bodies again after being cushioned by the water. He kept his head down and focused on each step.
Half way up, he heard a scraping and a piece of metal flew by his head; instinctively he hooked his arm around the step and looked up to see Veetch hanging on with one hand.
He held his breath as Tank manoeuvred himself into position, held out an arm, Veetch grabbed it and was safe. The last thing he wanted to do was lose a brother on a training exercise.
"You okay Veetch?"
"Okay sir. Thanks to Tank."
"Good job Tank."
"Anytime sir."
They continued the climb.
.
Alpha held out a hand and dragged him up and through the entrance.
"Good job, Mayday."
Mayday slithered onto the platform, like a dead aiwha, breathing hard.
"Good job everyone." Reiterated Alpha, as he checked the others.
.
Veetch looked exultant as he entered the squad room carrying what looked like a munitions crate.
"Present from Alpha!" He heaved the crate onto the squad table and opened it. "We're restricted to ale until the end of the course but it's real. Not bootleg."
They all stared at the bottles for a few seconds before someone's hand went in and picked one up. There was a hiss as one was opened and a sigh of appreciation, when that same someone swallowed.
More hands followed quickly, as the bottles disappeared from the crate.
.
A/N - Made up ordnance and equipment.