It was happening again, Kriari knew it was happening again. She tried her hardest to stay focused on the task at hand. She tried her best no to let her feelings cloud her vision, even though all she could think of was how it was happening again. She had lost a lot of troopers last time, and had only managed to save two. But here, now, when only two lives were at stake, the dread of losing them both somehow seemed heavier.

Kriari wondered how people, Jedi, in the GAR reamined unattached to their comrades. They fought together, ate together, hell, she had even been sharing the fresher with these men the last three months. She knew more about these men than she cared to admit and she wasn't put off by the idea. She really needed to talk to her masters about this, if she didn't, it would start getting in her way. If there was something Kriari hated, it was being the cause of her own hardships and setbacks.

But none of that was on her mind as she jumped from one rooftop to the next and threw all caution to the wind just to save the lives of two troopers. Just, what an awful choice of words. She had to admit her efforts were completely foolish in the eyes of everyone around her, even the clones knew when to let go of someone. But Kriari had learned to love and appreciate every single one of her comrades' lives, and she wasn't about to give up on any of them.

Kriari Foreas knew, she knew she was setting herself up for failure the second she decided to care about soldiers. She was a Commander in a war, she should have been ready to lose all of them at any given moment. But still she clung to them. If it was because she pitied them or herself she hadn't figured out yet, the only thing she knew with every fiber of her being, is that -even when her mind told her it was wrong- her spirit kept pulling her forward.

So she ran. Not to save two troopers, not to save the information they had gathered, but to save two friends.

But she was late.

Kriari had always prided herself in being punctual, on time, as a sign of respect to the person expecting her. This was the second time she had been late, and the consequences were very similar to the first time it had happened. She didn't really think before she acted. When she reached the collapsed wing of the building and saw the blaster her first reaction was to reach for the force. Kriari Force Pushed Clovis Rush's arm to one side as he pulled the trigger, and then charged him. She didn't dare pull her lightsaber out, she had exposed herself too much already, but it really didn't matter. With a punch to the gut and a roundhouse kick to the temple, the traitor went down unconscious.

It took her entire training to make herself turn around. She knew she wouldn't like what she'd find, but an assessment of the damage was necessary, and she owed her friends as much. Sinker's body was face down on the ground, the open wound on his skull was still steaming lazily from where the plasma had burned his brain. Kriari almost threw up, not because the sight made her queasy, no, because her friend had been shot from the back. He had been murdered.

It was Art's groan of pain that brought her back to reality. Clovis' blast had hit his shoulder, thank the Force, but his legs were trapped under a huge portion of the ceiling, and didn't look like they could be recovered.

"Art, I-"

"Shut it, here," he said, attempting to give me a metal cylinder. A copy of the machine's plans. "My legs are a lost cause and so am I. Take it."

Kriari was sad and angry and felt an overwhelming amount of guilt, even if she knew it wasn't her fault.

"You shut up, Kalil's on his way, you are getting out of he-"

"Will you listen to me for once?" he snapped, the Force around him told of such hatred, such anger, such resentment. Kriari had never felt anything like it, not from him. "They'll decommission me even if I make it out. Take the damn plans and leave me with that blaster, I want a soldier's way out."

Kriari's mind came to a screeching halt.

"What?"

Then, she saw something she never thought she'd see in Art's eyes: bitterness.

"Well, I guess you would have found out eventually," he was still angry, but not at her. "There's a reason Kaminoans have a reputation for quality products. They only sell those that meet their standards, the rest they terminate."

Kriari couldn't speak, couldn't think straight. She'd thought she had known anger in Khorm, she had been wrong.

"We'll talk about this on our way home," she said with new resolve, and new purpose. "Do you want to live, Art?"

They looked in each other's eyes and Art knew.

"More than anything."

"This won't be pretty." She answered with regret in her eyes and the weight of what she had to do in her heart.

"But it will be worth it, my friend."

Kriari nodded and drew her lightsaber before stepping towards her friend, her brother.

"I'll make sure of it."

…

Art stared at where his legs had once been. He was now officially useless by Kaminoan standards, but there was a certain freedom that came with that. The cut hadn't been painless, in fact, Art had never known such pain was possible, but he regretted nothing. He did feel a little bad for his friend though, she had been in the fresher emptying the contents of her stomach the last ten minutes.

Art was tired, his mind was barely keeping up with the events of the past few hours and his body had yet to adapt to the loss of not one, but two legs. It beat being dead though. Once they had jumped to hyperspace, Brendon had come down to the medical cot and helped however he could. Kriari had told him Art was now dead to the Republic, and he should stay dead until the day they both perished. To his credit, Kalil had taken the command in stride and was now filing his latest report. The mission had been a success, the only losses had been two clone troopers.

He thought about Sinker. Poor vod, he hadn't deserved to die like that, and even if they'd had no time to bury him or even pay their respects, he would stay in their minds and hearts forever. Art knew for a fact Kriari wouldn't forget.

He was still unsure on how she was going to pull this one off though. She needed support in the higher ranks to completely erase his presence from all records, and he knew for a fact she wouldn't stay silent now that she knew Kamino wasn't all rainbows and sunshine. She would find out all of it eventually, and she would not like it.

Art chuckled. Served those pale ass lizards right for being the assholes they were.

He'd just sit back, enjoy his new freedom and watch Kamino burn under the watchful eye of Kriari Foreas.

…

Wolffe 's skin was crawling. His bones were buzzing as if the marrow had been stung by a thousand angry insects and his stomach refused to settle. A trooper had been sent for him in the middle of the night with an emergency summons from the general: The Commander was on her way back, their mission had been compromised.

The only thing that kept Clone Commander Wolffe still and his face straight was his harsh training in Kamino. It hadn't been long since then, but it felt like it had happened a million years ago. He had never been this close to breaking every rule and fly across the galaxy to find Kriari.

He found the General on the bridge, he was standing in front of the tactical table and was speaking to someone's holo image. Wolffe had never seen the man, and wasn't really interested in him until he said his Commander's name.

"She's been in the fresher for ten minutes, she should be coming out any minute now," said the man. "We managed to stabilize Art thou, which was her main worry and probably the reason she kept it together this long."

Wolffe stood at attention a few paces behind his General, but he still saw the man's physical reaction to what came next.

"She found out about Kamino, Master."

Oh.

So no one had told her. Wolffe had wondered why his buir had told him to be patient with Kriari, he had known there was a lot she hadn't known, but this? In hindsight, it did seem like a reasonable choice to make. Kriari had never been shy about voicing her doubts about the Republic and its treatment of clones; it made sense for the Council to keep such delicate information from her.

But something inside Wolffe soared. They hadn't told her because they feared her and what she might do with that information. He was instantly proud of her. Still he wondered if it had been Plo'buir 's choice to make or if he had just been following orders as well.

"I guess there will be much to explain then. Anything else, Brendon?" asked Master Plo calmly.

"She's made up her mind to help Art defect the GAR. Says that he is to be wiped out of all reports and be listed as KIA." he answered before sighing. "I'm worried she might do something stupid now that she knows. I wouldn't put it past her to go digging for more."

"I'll talk to her when you three get here. Thank you for reporting, Brendon. May the Force be with you."

General Plo Koon turned around and motioned his Commander to follow him. They fell into a leisurely pace, walking silently towards the Jedi's quarters. Wolffe stood by the door like he always did until he was invited to take a seat. Master Plo motioned to the stool and left for the kitchenette to get the tea.

"I believe you would like an explanation, wouldn't you, son?"

Wolffe could suddenly see his father's years weighing on him. His shoulders were starting to sink a little, and he was bowing his head as he braced himself on the edge of the counter. Wolffe said nothing.

"It's not just Kriari the council's been keeping this information from. Not even Jedi Knights know about Kamino's methods for producing reliable soldiers," he started "It was not a unanimous decision, but Master Yoda decided it was for the best, so we all kept silent."

"You were simply following orders, Sir" said Wolffe more to himself than to his father.

"No, that would be hiding behind excuses. The truth is, I should have told Kriari about this the second I realized she was too attached to you and your brothers. At least then I could have done something to prevent what's to come. There is no going back now."

Wolffe suddenly felt dread climbing up his spine. What was Kriari capable of doing that scared Jedi Master Plo Koon so deeply?

"You once told me you would bring the galaxy to its knees to protect my daughter," said Plo. "I can assure you, son, she will do so much more."