Imperial Garrison

Ryloth

Ryssa pulled off the synth skin gloves, rolled them up and hit the recycler with the ball at the first attempt. The Senator would live; she had patched up the blaster wound, it had cauterised itself but had left a small hole in the Lek. She watched as the Twi'lek assistants prepared him for the Bacta tank which he had insisted on for three days; he refused to be touched by EmDee giving no good reason and demanded the Bacta immediately despite the need for other treatment first. The Bacta would only help with the scarring.

Three days is way too long.

The blast shot had initially rendered him unconscious, mainly through shock, but it was not a fatal shot. He would have scarring but it was easily survivable without the Bacta. He could develop balance problems but the Bacta won't help with that, it was cosmetic.

Her close examination of the wound revealed it was a long range shot and not point blank or even close range. It was an expert, precise shot, unless they were trying to kill him. She approached the admiral.

"Admiral. Syndulla could not have done this. This was not a close range shot, it would be a sni…"

Howzer stepped between her and Rampart cutting her off, "Doctor!" He totally blocked her view of the Admiral who moved away, "As you are not a ballistics specialist your opinion is not required." He immediately turned his back on her, as her mouth dropped in astonishment..

"Admiral, the refinery." Rampart left, he followed Rampart and she was left with The Senator suspended in the tank and a nasty taste in her mouth.

She kicked the recycler in frustration.
.

The list of clones to be 'examined' based on their decant dates, from their designation number was growing. The Kaminoans had helpfully supplied those details. She was so thankful that the Nulls, Alpha's and Commando's didn't have the chips but then realised some of the later cross trained ARC's would still have them from being a regular trooper.

Tod would have had one. Her hand went to the tag around her neck as she thought of him.

The Syndulla's were already in the Garrison's cells, together with Gobi and a couple of the others who had helped to free their daughter and Hera was now on the run, alone. There was nothing she could do to help. Ryloth was a dangerous planet, with predatory animals and now with the Stormtroopers searching for her, who couldn't be relied on to do the right thing. Ryssa took some refuge in the fact that she had her weird droid with her. She knew how much they could help.

"I can't believe Rampart arrested a child and now has a search out for her." Ryssa muttered into her datapad.

"I…..assume that is a rhetorical question." EmDee replied.

She looked up from what she was doing and stared into space, "Yes, it is." This reinforced what she already knew about the Empire, that people should be doing something about it, not embracing it. She should be doing something about it.

"And Howzer, he just stopped me telling the Admiral ….."

"Perhaps Howzer knew that the Admiral was already aware that it was not Syndulla who fired." EmDee interrupted her. "I have analysed the footage." The Empire's obsession with recording everything could prove useful to other people. EmDee replayed the shooting.

"There." he highlighted Rampart's gesture, seconds before the shot.

"You mean …Rampart planned this attack on the Senator and framed the Syndulla's?"

"Precisely. And Howzer knew it."

"Was he trying to protect me in some way?"

"It would appear so."

Ryssa had seen the planet wide orders that all of Cham's sympathisers were to be arrested. By the look of the square previously, three quarters of the planet would be under arrest. All Howzer had been trying to do was stop her putting her foot in her big mouth. There was nothing more she could do at present. She went back to her list of clones, it was getting longer and the quicker she could get through it the better.

With Gobi was under arrest, her way off the planet was gone. She had assumed it was Gobi who was organising it, and Howzer almost confirmed it. She just hoped Howzer, or one of his squad, would be the ones to find Hera and not the Commandos that were lurking about and reporting direct to Rampart. Howzer had said only one was a clone, so he had seen him. She wondered who it could be and if she knew him. Commando squads all had snipers and if he was a sniper then…

.

Kyrimorut

Mandalore

A'den watched as the Cornucopia landed gently and his disappointed brothers trudged down the ramp followed by Ny and a repulsor lift full of groceries with lots of eggs. Other clones rushed to check over the food and get the freighter quickly under cover. They had to be careful of the new Empire, it was still an unknown quantity.

Finding and retrieving Ryssa was probably going to be a little more difficult than he first imagined and he needed to implement his plan to get more information on her. But first he needed to be with his father and brothers. Ryssa would understand; she always had.

He walked over to talk to Ordo.

Watching from the sidelines, Jilka still hadn't forgiven Besany for getting her into this mess, on this backwater planet, even though it supposedly was not her fault but some 'shapeshifting alien' who had a grudge against the Republic. Yeah you get a lot of those. Nothing to do with her clone boyfriend who she had been seeing for months and never told anyone about until the last minute.

Jilka seethed but that wasn't going to get her anywhere.

She looked around, clones everywhere but not much to get you teeth into, both metaphorically and physically. Not a bad looking bunch on the whole but all of them felt a little bit 'desperate'.

Ordo was with his father, as he called him, in that guttural language they used with each other. She hated having to ask Besany what they said, it meant she had to talk to her, be polite, with everyone watching them. If she could have got her claws into Ordo for just one night, for a little extracurricular activity, even just once, that would have been one in the eye for Besany, especially if she could have caught them at it. Jilka found herself smiling at the thought of that but no he only had eyes for Bes.

The moping brother was no better, although he was unlikely to ever see his wife again. She'd obviously done a runner. Jilka couldn't work out how he had managed to even get married, they were all supposed to be spooks, Clone Intelligence. All of them had that underlying danger, a simmering rage just under the surface, just like the ones she always went for, the ones you can push to the edge and watch them explode, then it gets enjoyable. All of the bigger ones were like that.

Besany really didn't know her at all.

But no I get Corr.

Damaged Corr.

She watched closely, as the group came down the ramp, her years as an investigator honing an accurate reading of the body language.

"Oh, something's gone wrong." She muttered to herself; she had not been privy to any of the discussions regarding the mission but she had worked out what it was. And it had failed, so they were not as infallible as they thought they were. She smiled as Corr trotted towards her like the ever obedient Akk puppy that he was. He had helped with the unloading and covering, and checking off food. She felt the need for a little distraction and he was always up for a distraction. She pulled him with her towards the wooded area.

A'den stood behind his father, arms crossed on his chest, ready to be there to support him and Ordo; he had seen Jilka watching from the sidelines, then Corr and Jilka loped off together to get some alone time, he assumed. He greeted his brothers and headed back into the house with them to find out exactly what had happened.

.

"You alright, Jilka?"

"Of course, now that you're here."

"It's just you seem a little tense."

"Missing you." She lied as she kissed him.

"I've not been gone long, or far."

"Far enough." she nuzzled his neck

Corr couldn't quite believe his luck as he pushed her up against the tree and her hand went down the front of his trousers. Even in this force-forsaken place where the men out numbered the women, he had one.

.

A'den watched his brother, despite their argument, he still felt for him, after this escapade. Ordo was still fuming, he had tried to explain to Kad why his Da hadn't come home and had even taken the blame for Dar's selfishness. A'den thought Dar had finally flipped. Why wouldn't he come back for his son? He would never understand him.

Kal was dejected, the worst A'den had ever seen his Father but Ny was fussing around him; they had the chip that Niner had passed on to decipher with some interesting facts on it, he said. A present from Obrim. A'den came and sat next to Jaing in the data room.

"So…." A'den began.

Jaing had his head down concentrating. He was the best at this type of job. A'den could do it, they all could, but Jaing was the best, quicker. They each had their own specialities his was organising people and infiltrating; this was Jaing's.

"How's it going ner vod?"

"A few more and I should be in." He looked at screen. "Shab!" A'den looked back down at the small machine that was working its way through the chips memory retrieving every tiny bit of data from it. "Another layer."

A'den was still behind him; Jaing turned at looked at his brother waiting for the next question.

"You're hovering. What?"

"Are you really going to let L'leth move to Rav's to be near all those handsome, lonely Yayax squad boys and Commander Tactful? Ordo says he has a way with words."

"What do you mean?"

"I've seen how she looks at you and you're not blind."

Jaing put down the chip he was working on.

"I have a whole galaxy to work through." He grinned.

"Don't come crying to me, when one of those Yayax boys or Levet jumps in and wins her over." A'den's eyebrow cocked.

"Cov's eyeing up our sister."

"Ooh, should we go into big brother mode."

"She's older than us."

"Yeah but we're bigger. But no, I wasn't thinking of Cov, more like Dev."

"Why has he said anything?" Jaing's eyes gave away his concern.

"Gotcha'."

Jaing shook his head and returned to his chip, "Oya!" He shouted, "Got it." Pages and pages of information scrolled down his screen. He stopped it suddenly, "Oh Kriff!" He turned the screen to A'den.

"Fierfek!"

There in the middle of the list of names was one they knew well.

Ny Vollen.

"I heard she was a soft touch and I played on it." A'den said.

"We need to tell Buir."

.

Ryloth

The turnaround was sudden; she was needed elsewhere quickly, Ryssa smelled an excuse. Rampart just wanted her off Ryloth but she wasn't sure why.

"We're taking the machine with us, EmDee. Pack it up well."

"Of course."

"Have you managed to find out where we're going yet?"

"No, there's an exceptionally high level of encryption on everything. I will continue."

Ryssa had to find Howzer, check he was okay, and his squad, and let him know she was leaving. She also wanted to find out if they had found Hera, she strode down the corridor, as she turned the corner she saw one of the new commandos. It barred her way.

"Captain."

"Yes?"

"Where are you going?"

"I need to find someone and you are?"

"ES-02, ma'am." She moved to block her again; despite the helmet, Ryssa could hear the voice from this commando was female. She assumed she must one of the new recruits that Rampart had been talking about.

"Is there a problem?"

"No ma'am."

"Then let me pass."

The Commando put her hand to one side of her helmet, a reflex Ryssa recognised. She was listening to orders, the Commando finally stepped to one side.

"Ma'am."

As Ryssa walked briskly through the corridors, she was sure she had seen a commando in several places, always alone, always on the outskirts, watching.

Paranoid!

Stay paranoid!

Ryssa hurried towards the cells that was where he was likely to be, she thought. He had seemed really friendly with the Syndulla's and this had obviously put him in a difficult position, she bumped into him as he turned the corner, walking away from the cell block, helmet clipped to his belt.

"Howzer. I was looking for you."

"Sorry Ryssa, I'm really busy."

"It won't take long." She looked around, the corridor was empty. "Any problems with your squad?"

"He shook his head, "None reported."

"Good. You?"

He stared at her, "I'm fine but I really need to go."

"Have you found Hera?"

"Not yet. Cham and Eleni know where she's likely to be but they won't tell me. They don't trust me any more. Nearly three years of fighting together. Protecting Eleni and Hera, and they don't trust me now."

"Trust is easily lost and hard to get back."

He nodded.

"Should I go, try and talk to them?"

"I don't think so, not after the Senator and Rampart…."

"No ….perhaps not." She replied sadly, "At least she's got the droid, chopper is it?"

He nodded.

"I just came to say, I've been reassigned. I don't know where. But I'm leaving soon. I just wanted to say….thank you."

Howzer nodded, his mind elsewhere.

Ryssa turned to go, her shuttle was due to leave shortly and she needed to ensure everything was packed.

"Howzer?" She turned back to him, "You're a good man. I know you'll do the right thing. Even if I can't."

He frowned before saluting and racing down the corridor.

The commando stood at the corner watching the interaction.

.

Kyrimorut,

Mandalore

A'den still hadn't found Ny and he felt some how responsible for some of this mess. He had talked her into spying on KDY for them and then picking up Sull and all the other little errands she did for them, simply to get information about her husband. He had heard from the other pilots that she was a soft touch and he had used that to approach her. It was his role to do that and he he did it well; the little errands first and then he pushed her to do more and more, culminating in the trip to Coruscant.

Just like the shabla Jetii. He reminded himself but he didn't feel remorse. It was what he did.

Now her name was on a list, which if it got into the Empire's hands could spell trouble for them all, despite it only being a list that said these people may help. Just being associated with Jedi was dangerous.

He'd walked the perimeter and checked the freighter but still not found her, even though he knew she did this every night. Then he thought of the only other place apart from the house where she was likely to be.

"You shouldn't take it so hard. They used you like they've used nearly everyone else, in some way for hundreds, thousands of years with no thought for the consequences of who they used."

He sat next to Ny who was staring up at the stars.

"I just feel so….stupid."

"It's not stupid to help people."

"Pfft." Ny huffed.

"But it is stupid, criminally stupid, to put their names down on a list that can be found so easily, especially when they know who they are up against."

"You're angry?"

"Not at you. At the chakaar who bandied your name around for anyone to find. If he wasn't already dead, I'd kill him myself."

Ny snorted, "I've never had anyone offer to kill for me before."

"You're almost family. Definitely friend."

"Kal…."

"Buir's upset but he'll get over it."

And he'll kill for you one day.

Ny hoped so, she liked shorty way too much now and the thought of him being upset with her or that she had hurt him, had bothered her much more than she knew it should.

"Jilka and Corr look to be getting together."

"Hmm." That was none committal for A'den.

"Fi's upset about Dar."

"He would be. They were close."

She shivered.

"It's getting cold. Come back for a night cap."

It was an offer she couldn't resist.

.

Ryloth Airspace

The refinery had been attacked just as her shuttle departed Lessu. She saw the explosions as they flew over; it made an impressive fire works show. Lots of the clones would have loved it; they always delighted in a boom, even A'den. She wondered if she would ever see him again, it was beginning to look unlikely. She pushed that depressing thought away, as her eyes filled up, concentrating instead on trying to work out where she was being sent now. EmDee, sitting seemingly closed down was still processing, trying to get into any systems to give some idea of where exactly they where they were going.

She hoped the machine had worked on the chips of the clones she had processed to date; if it had, it would give Howzer some back up because she knew he would do the right thing. He was just that kind of man. Everything she knew about him, his concern for Hera pointed to him having scruples, despite being a soldier trained to kill. He was not just a machine. She wish she knew, if she could just be certain, it had worked.

EmDee was detailing the damage to the refinery in her earpiece, it was practically destroyed by a rogue shuttle firing on it, the another joined it. She was only half listening because an an idea forming. Then she realised EmDee had moved on.

"The Syndulla's have escaped, together with Gobi and the rest of his freedom fighters who helped Hera escape."

"How?"

"Unknown. They are no longer in the garrison."

"Howzer?"

EmDee processed further for a few seconds.

"There was a stand off in the square, with the Commandos. He and his squad have been arrested. I am sorry."

She closed her eyes and leaned back. Clones arrested, would they recondition the chips or just ….

"There is a message for you. From Howzer. It's time stamped just before his arrest."

She listened to the burst of static.

"What? Is that it? I don't understand."

She heard EmDee processing.

"I have found hidden in the static a series of long and short tones. They form a message."

Ryssa was listening now.

"It's an old Mandalorian form of code, called Dadita. Not used often but the Commandos on Kamino were trained in it."

"The message." She demanded.

"It just says, 'Thank you. Continue.' that is all."

She knew what he meant. It could be dangerous, if she was caught and you might not see the results for years, not until they were needed but if she could reverse the effects of the chips on other clones….

.