Tensions after Ryloth were high between the crew of the Silver Lining. In the brig was an Imperial Agent that they didn't know what to do with, they had debated killing him, but Barriss insisted that they shouldn't. It wouldn't be self defence, it wouldn't be protecting them, it would just murder. There was no other way to go about it. So for now, the clones had kept Agent Alphard warm and we'll fed in the confines of his holding cell while they figured out what to do with him.
Hound and Boil were recovering well since their most recent adventure, a combination of bacta and Barriss' healing abilities, they were back to one hundred percent. The 212th lieutenant felt a new sense of purpose after meeting Numa once again, seeing that she was okay, that she could hold her own… that she wouldn't need him. It gave him peace of mind to look out for his new squad, his new family.
Dogma was not so fortunate. His physical injuries were healing nicely in the days following the mission, but there was an issue regarding his mental state. His brain activity was already abnormal due to the removal of his inhibitor chip in addition to having his memory wiped since umbara, but since his injuries at the hands of Cody, he lost a lot of blood, particularly when it came to his brain. His brain went several minutes without oxygen, the results on his psyche were yet to be determined as he had yet to awake from his coma. Faun Shae made no secret of his resentment towards the crew for allowing this to happen to Dogma. After losing Torma Yen, Dogma was all he really had. He did not bond with the rest of the Silver Lining crew and made no effort to try, he was too set in his ways.
Slick found their youngest brother to be an issue on a personal level. Mustard. Millions of clones in the galaxy, millions of names to choose from, millions of reasons to choose their names and this clone just happened to choose the same name as his batch brother due to the same circumstances? Some might call that the galaxy's messed up humour. Slick just found it strange to the point where it was uncomfortable to hold a conversation with the young clone. He wasn't him. He will never be him.
Barriss led the few able clones on their newest mission, to make contact with the CEO of the New Czerka corporation. She informed her friends that the man they were going to see had enough money and resources to set them up anywhere in the galaxy far away from the prying eyes of the Empire. What's more, is that he owed her a favour.
The journey through hyperspace was calming, it was much needed after their ordeal back on Ryloth. Slick, Sev and Mustard, being the few clones still in relatively good health, chose to head down to the planet with Barriss while the others remained behind to both recover and watch over Agent Alphard. As everyone was preparing to board the shuttle, Slick gently grabbed Barriss by her shoulder before speaking.
"Kid, I… I have to ask. How do you know this guy? I mean, if you say he can be trusted, I believe you. But it would be nice to know who we're dealing with."
The force user thought on it for a moment, it was not a part of her life she was overly proud of, but she figured they deserved to know. She took in a deep breath before letting out an exasperated "I don't know if he can… But he's our only option left. So, I'll fill you in on how I met Bruxa Morei."
Coruscant: The end of the Republic many months ago.
As Vindi and Barriss watched Slick take the doctors personal shuttle off coruscant, they looked down at the contradictory elderly youngling sitting on the floor playing with an empty bottle of painkillers.
"So…" Vindi began, unsure if he had any standing with the jedi traitor to even ask. "What are you going to do about him?" He then asked, gesturing to Grogu.
She knelt down to pick the baby up in her arms and began heading towards the exit. "Does Talon Karrde still operate above the Bozzakk casino?"
In life, everything is a gamble. That was the cost of being born into a galaxy in constant conflict, where forces beyond many peoples understanding seeks balance, influencing wars and tragedies to achieve it. Speaking to the information broker known as Talon Karrde was a big gamble that Barriss had no choice but to take. Without another moments hesitation, she walked off to the left of the Bozzakk casino towards an elevator on the corner of the building.
A mechanical eyeball immediately shot out of the control consol, scanning her and Grogu up and down before she uttered the passcode "Blue Harvest."
Once they had ascended, the elevator doors opened with a rush of loud music and even louder people, this was a party. There was diverse group of billionaires, politicians and company heads, all mingling, getting drunk and placing bets on the roulette tables below, all could be seen from this upper glass balcony. At the back of the balcony was an open door, which Barriss made her way to as their destination. The two made their way to the back, shifting in and out of the crowds, trying their best not to draw attention to themselves, keeping the baby covered under her robes.
A Quaren standing guard by the door held out his hand, ordering her to halt as he checked a data pad in his hand. "Do you have an appointment?"
"I do not. But I know how this works." She answered flatly.
"That so?" The Quaren asked, folding his arms. "I take it you have something to trade?" He smirked.
Barriss reached under her robes, careful as to not accidentally reveal Grogu to the club, she then pulled out a holoprojector revealing locations marked in red across the inner core. "Six republic storage depots, perhaps in all the transition into this new empire, your employer might want to take an opportunity."
The Quaren smiled, at least, she thought he did. It was difficult to tell behind those tentacles on his face. "He's in a meeting right now, but I'll make sure you're next in line." He said as he took the projector from her hand.
Barriss didn't have time for this. The longer she waited, the more likely she would be recognised. It wasn't more than a few months ago that she had been sentenced on the public extranet. She waived her hand over the quaren's face. "You can see that I'm in a hurry. You will let me enter now." She commanded through a mind trick.
The quaren, suddenly awakening from a standing slumber, rapidly shook his head. "You know, you look like you've got places to be. I'm sure Mr Kardde can squeeze you in."
The second the door opened, Barriss sprinted into a vibrantly lit office covered in multiple holoprojections with information moving too fast for any organic to comprehend. She then used the force to rip the door panel off its hinge, causing a malfunction and the door to close. She then focused on the center of the room where three human men were sitting, one on one side of the desk, two on the other.
"What is the meaning of this?!" The eldest of the men began before turning to the slim solo silhouette in front of the many screens. "Your people assured me that you were discreet and you just have anyone waltz into your place of business?!" He continued to shout at a man Barriss was already familiar with, Talon Kardde.
All screens went silent for a brief moment before a synthsized voice emitted from the speakers. "Mr Solomon, I can assure you that your requests and operations shall remain elusive to the authorities. More so that the individual before you is a former client that you supplied your nanodroids. Barriss Offee, Raoul Solomon of Solomon industries. Mr Solomon, Barriss Offee, former member of the Jedi Order. Despite my current meeting being interrupted, I believe this is an opportunity to solve multiple issues simultaneously."
"How so?" Solomon asked, slightly more relaxed.
"Well, Miss Offee, I assume you're seeking asylum for yourself and your little one?" Karrde asked as her eyes widened in shock. "Oh, don't be so surprised dearie. I have more security measures than one simple bodyguard. Anyway, Mr Solomon here represents a company that makes considerably generous donations to charities that care for children often orphaned from the war, very noble indeed, even if it's just a yearly positive PR scheme. I'm sure he would facilitate your needs if you were to aid his company in a simple business transaction." Karrde explained, looking to Solomon who then snapped his fingers at a third man in the room.
The young, skinny man looked to be in a constant state of anxiety, possibly over fear of losing his job or something else entirely, Barriss couldn't be sure. What she was sure of, was how committed he was to his work despite only just meeting him. Of course, this was just upon initial visual inspection, when she tried to sense his emotions with the force, however, she sensed nothing. Not like a dark side user masking their presence, no. This wasn't that. This felt like the force simply having nothing to do with him.
Upon first glance, it was easy to spot the cybernetic implants on his left temple as well as his discoloured left eye. It was clear to her that he had undergone these augmentations voluntarily as she saw no scar tissue around the mechanics, these were clear and precise incisions. She figured the enhancements were designed for him to process data much faster than the average human. His eye then lit up as he brought out a small handheld holoprojector. "Solomon Industries recently purchased an experimental prototype from the Blue Sun Initiative. It was scheduled to be delivered to us here on Coruscant when their ship was raided by pirates. Thankfully, such a valuable piece of technology has been fitted with a galactic positioning system that we recently tracked to Tattooine."
"What does this have to do with me?" She then asked, though she had a rough idea of the strings attached.
Talon Karrde then highlighted a name on one of his projectors, emitting a Hologram of a one-eyed Gungan. "The raiders were led by rogue members of the Ohnaka gang. Mr Solomon was just requesting that I send one of my strike teams to secure the prototype, but I hate to waste my resources."
"So you want to waste my life instead?" Barriss then asked rhetorically.
"Help Mr Solomon with this, in exchange, he will send that child somewhere safe for the rest of his life. Of course, I then take a small percentage of the future profits that Solomon Industries make. Call it a commission for setting the company up with a cosmic power wielding enforcer." Karrde then elaborated, almost too proud of himself for coming up with the idea.
Not a single person out of the three guests in that room had to see Kardde's face to know that he was smirking in the shadows. Mr Solomon broke the silence that followed. "That sounds reasonable. Brennal, take her to Tattooine, will you?"
"Sir?!" The frightened cyborg almost spat back.
"You've been after a more senior position within the company for some time now. I respect the work you do, so, do this for me, aid Miss Offee in finding the prototype, and a managerial position in any of our specified divisions will be yours to choose from." Solomon explained as he gave Brennal a genuine smile and a firm hand on his shoulder.
She wasn't sure if it was an appropriate term of phrase, but Barriss could see the gears turning in the cyborgs head while he formulated a response to his employers offer. "If I may, Sir… I'd like the deed to Czerka. You said yourself that it's just to flaunt around."
The Jedi looked at the eldest man in the room, confused as to what a Czerka was. Solomon noticed and graced her with an explanation. "Czerka is a millennia old company, its name long and forever tarnished by their alliance with the ancient sith invaders thousands of years ago. I inherited the formal deed to the company from my father, who bought it at a private auction for next to nothing as no one wished to associate with it… though I suppose you are correct, young man. It currently serves no purpose besides a decoration."
Brennal stepped forward, reaching out his hand to secure a deal. "Let me try and make something of it. A chance to start anew. Please, sir. Give me this chance to grow on my own." He smiled.
Solomon looked down at his hand, then met his gaze, unsure as to why this aspiring young man would throw away his job security on a gamble. "Very well. I don't understand your decision, but it'll save me a pretty penny to respect it rather than pay you more." He joked as he chuckled and shook the young man's hand.
The flight to Tattooine was quiet to say the least. Brennal spent the entire ride overlooking multiple handheld projectors with different graphs, charts, lumps of written information. Barriss tried to inspect from a distance, but beyond words like cryogenics, she didn't quite understand the majority of his research. She debated with herself to ask, but she resigned herself to the fact that she would probably be uninterested with what he had to say. To her, Brennal seemed to be nothing more than a typical corporate pencil pusher seeking to rise through the ranks, though she had to give him credit for his initiative in wanting to make something his own.
With all that said, the trip was beginning to feel longer than it actually was, so she decided to try and break the ice. "So..." She began. "The Blue Sun Corporation, what do they do?"
Brennal quickly chuckled to himself. "What don't they do?" He asked rhetorically before elaborating. "Big umbrella corporation with their hands dipped in just about everything from pest resistant crops to weapons."
Barriss then folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. "And what was Solomon buying?"
The cyborg didn't look her in the eye as he answered. "I'm not at liberty to say."
"Can't or won't?" She prayed.
"Both." He said flatly. "It might be hard for you to imagine, but despite every war, everyday lives of the galaxy move on without even worrying themselves about the outcome. Republic or Separatist or even an Empire, the economic galaxy will continue. Farmers will tend their crops, doctors will treat the sick, chefs will continue to cook, and businesses will either flourish or collapse no matter the climate. I have to worry about my job, how to maintain it, how to maintain my lifestyle. If I falter, if I fail, if I expose Solomon to any sort of attack due to carelessness, then I can say goodbye to any hope of having my own company. So I won't be sharing company secrets with you simply because you asked."
Barriss was taken aback by the abrupt behaviour of her temporary companion, he went from staying nothing at all to almost scolding her over what would normally be considered in most circumstances to be a small issue. That was enough to tell her what else she wanted to know about Brennal, he was a walking repository of pent up anger and frustration. So much so that he released much of his anger in one shot because he couldn't hold it in any longer.
"What was her name?" She then followed up.
This time, Brennal looked her in the eye and chuckled. "Was I that obvious?"
"I figured all this anger has to come from somewhere. Doesn't seem to be work related. Figured someone had to have broken your heart to make you that way."
He then gave a genuine smile and looked out into the Blue void of hyperspace. "Her name was Sova. But… she didn't break my heart, she's… she had my heart until hers faded away." His smiled faded.
"I'm… sorry." Was all Barriss could muster up, looking down at Grogu, completely careless to the environment around him.
"You ever wonder why we apologise for things beyond our control? It's funny, in a way. Like, we know it's not our fault, the person we apologise to knows it's not our fault. But we say sorry anyway. Nothing to be sorry for. I suppose you Jedi would know more about the emotional state of the mind and all that." Brennal said aloud as a way to cope.
Barriss knelt to pick up Grogu and sit him on her lap. "You could meditate with us." She offered. "For Jedi, it's how we center ourselves, calm ourselves to the universe around us in order to appreciate all it's beauty." She smiled as Brennal then sat with them for the remainder of the trip.
Mos Espa wasn't particularly busy this time of the night, just the occasional small group or individual stammering their way from the bars to their homes. Amongst the hooligans were a couple of idle mercenaries and a pacing one-eyed gungan who stopped as soon as he saw the Solomon employee approach them.
Barriss had her hand over her waist, ready to grab her weapon, Grogu was wrapped tightly in a carrier around her back. Brennal noticed this and placed his hand gently over hers. "That won't be necessary. I've got this."
"Youssa must be being the Solomon lackey." Kleef all but shouted at the pair. "Czerka be paying meesa a bomb bad bounty for thissa cryo filter. So Youssa best be offering much much more." He smirked.
Barriss raised an eyebrow. Czerka? That was the company that Brennal wanted from Solomon. If that company was dissolved, who's taking on their name? What was more confusing that these weren't Weequay pirates, they didn't bare any symbols of Hondo Ohnaka's gang. So who were they?
The cyborg said nothing as he slowly raised his hands in surrender, then with a swift flick of his wrist, a paper card appeared between his index and middle finger as if he were a street entertainer. "That would be me. Bruxa Morei, Czerka corporation. Your payment is being transferred as we speak." The cyborg spoke with a level of confidence that Barriss could not imagine him possessing, as if a switch were flipped inside him, transforming his personality completely. It was clear that he had engineered this whole situation to benefit himself, securing the official deed to Czerka by tricking Solomon into giving it willingly.
Barriss wasn't sure who this man was at all. Not that she knew him all that well to begin with, but it was clear to her that he had been concealing his identity even from his supposed employer.
Kleef was also taken aback by the straight to the point demeanor of the gentleman before him. "So, youssa be working for Solomon only to steal from him? Haha! Youssa either be being really brave or really stupid."
"I prefer the term prepared." Bruxa (formerly known as Brennal) answered almost instantly. "For example, I am prepared to unlock your payment with a signal from my echo eye, here. Alternatively, I am also prepared to kill all three of you should things not go my way. Not myself, of course. No. But those Jawas scuttling around over there, they have orders to use their best assets against you should you try anything 'Brave or Stupid' and you put it."
Kleef and the two nikto pirates then turned around to see a handful of jawas with blasters aimed at their direction, suddenly several rusted B-1 battle droids unfolded and rose from the buried heaps of scrap with additional firepower ready.
"Who are you?..." Barriss then asked aloud to Bruxa, shocked and surprisingly impressed.
Bruxa ignored her question and maintained eye contact with his gungan associate. Kleef narrowed his eye and chuckled. "Well played. Weesa be taking our credits and leaving now."
Bruxa placed his hands in his pockets and rocked in place. "Well, you could…" He said loud enough to catch the groups attention. "Alternatively, Kleef, I could triple your pay if you take myself and my associates to the planet Bardotta."
The cyclops amphibian started to pace towards the mystery man before remembering the position he was in, at gunpoint. "Whatsa youssa knows about Bardotta?" He hissed.
Not missing a beat, Bruxa answered. "I know a great many things, my friend. Knowledge is as valuable to me as it is to Talon Karrde, who informs me that you were once head of security to the gungan representative of Naboo. When I hired you to procure the prototype from the original fireteam I sent to secure it from Solomon, I did so on the knowledge of your relationships with the people of that particular planet. The Bardottans and their queen have common interests with my associate here. So please, take us there and your pay shall be tripled at the drop of a hat."
Had the pirates had equal footing with this tactical pencil pusher, the silence that followed might have had some weight or tension behind it, but they were backed into a corner and they knew it. Kleef spoke for the group. "Deal. Weesa take you to Bardotta."
"Perfect!" Bruxa smiled as he snapped his fingers, sending a signal to his Jaws accomplices to open fire on the two Nikto pirates, their bodies dropping to the floor instantly.
Kleef drew his blaster only for it to be shot put of his hand by a B-1. "Why youssa kill them?!"
"Because they were not necessary for this operation, you are. With them now gone, their pay has now gone to you, thus tripling your fee. You're welcome. Miss Offee, be a dear and keep an eye on our Gungan friend, would you? I have some business to attend to with the locals before we depart." The cyborg casually requested as he began strolling towards one of the Jawas.
Barriss drew her blade and pointed it at Bruxa's throat. "What in the force is this? You've lied, cheated and manipulated this whole situation to your advantage. What even is your real name? You're going to tell me what's going on." She demanded.
Several of the B-1s and Jawas then aimed their weapons towards her as Bruxa maintained a stoic gaze in her direction. "I can understand your frustrations, Miss Offee. But let me be clear, I do not take kindly to threats. That said, I am already doing you a favour but seeing as you fail to recognise that, allow me to make it clearer for you. The prototype from Solomon industries was already on my agenda, I had a group in place who had already secured it by the time you entered Karrde's office. Upon learning that you and your little friend would be joining me on the condition that Solomon would keep him safe, I had to change plans. Solomon would have sold that child back to the Empire, no questions asked. I spent two years of my life infiltrating that corporation and let me tell you, he is not a man of his word. So, I then used Karrde's resources to quickly find a mercenary group to secure the package who had connections to a safe haven for you and your kind. I appreciate you not wanting to be kept in the dark but as you can see, explaining this is extremely tedious for me. Now we're on an even shorter time frame now that you have your weapon out in public with witnesses nearby. So if you don't mind." He finished as he side stepped around her blade and quickly traded an unfamiliar device with the leader of the Jawas in exchange for a computer hard drive clearly too heavy to lift for organics.
As Barriss made her way over to Kleef, she let out a quiet "I'm sorry for all this."
Kleef could only let out a grunt as he rolled his eye, he didn't believe her in the slightest.
Bruxa then walked back towards them with a brown rusted B-1 battle droid carrying the hard drive. "Hello everyone, this is Roger. The Jawas essentially pawned him off to me as his vocabulary matrix is beyond repair. Only speaks some kind of old Republic gibberish as far as I'm concerned, the little guys find him truly irritating, but I never turn down a free gift. Don't find much use for battle droids myself, so Barriss, consider him a gift to you to aid in your future endeavors."
Barriss then looked the droid up and down, his chassis was reinforced to give off a more natural human appearance, save for the slightly widened head. "I doubt I'll have much use for a droid." She muttered under her breath.
"Créeme, yo tampoco estoy contento con eso." The droid replied in a deeper pitched voice than normal battle droids.
Barriss gave a confused look, followed by a tired tone in her voice. "What?"
For the second time within the last two days, Barriss had guards pointing spears at her face. First by the Coruscant guards, now by the Bardottans, she was getting quite tired of it, but continued on as Kleef managed to stop the situation from escalating. All five off worlders, including Roger, were brought before the Degoyan masters as well as the elegant Bardottan Queen Julia.
"Kleef. It has been a long time since you've graced us with your presence, though I doubt Jar Jar sent you here seeing as he told me you retired to take on a life of crime. So tell me, why bring these Jedi and… others… here to my planet?"
Kleef then stepped forward and knelt before the queen. "A thousand apologies youssa majesty. Meesa be having no choice, theyssa knew about youssa, about Binks, about thissa planet. The Jedi… Theyssa need a place to hide. Binks was a friend of the Jedi. Heesa would have brought them here all the same."
The queen smiled thinking about her star crossed lover. "Indeed he would. Very well, we shall grant them safe harbor for a time. But we cannot keep them hidden from the empire forever."
As if on queue, one of the Degoyan masters approached the queen. "Forgive the intrusion, your majesty. But an Imperial shuttle is requesting to dock. I don't know how long we can stall them."
The queen narrowed her eyes at the group before her. How much trouble were they going to bring to her world? She wondered for a moment, then took in a deep breath and trusted the force to guide her judgement. In that brief moment, behind her closed eyes, she saw Barriss, she saw a world ravaged by war, forgotten by time, lost to the galaxy. Finally, she saw a group of men, all with the same face, oddly enough, these matching men all wore the same uniform, but their armour was coloured on every end of the charted spectrum. She also saw the droid currently before her, preparing for a battle alongside these clones in her vision. There was something far greater at play here, it was her duty to see it through.
"Then we do not. Allow them to dock, meanwhile I shall escort our guests to the old tunnels."
"These tunnels were once used by followers of the night sister witch Mother Talzin to drain the Degoyan masters of our force essence." Julia explained as she revealed a passage.
"You can do that? Strip someone of the force, I mean." Bruxa quickly asked, catching everyone's attention.
"In a manner of speaking, yes. But in doing so, the host would die. The force ties all living beings of the galaxy together. Without it, all life would perish." The elegant queen confirmed, slightly surprised by the calculating man's curiosity.
The group then made their way to the main chamber where the queen was once held. "Be careful not to touch the waterfalls. The minerals in the mountains are naturally acidic, it will burn your skin if not washed straight away."
"Good to know." A familiar voice echoed throughout the chamber, a voice that most of the galaxy had heard in one way or another over the extranet during the war.
"Clones!" Kleef shouted, ready to draw his blaster, only for the two troopers to fire at their feet.
"I wouldn't." One of the troopers spoke up. He wore a standard set of phase two armour, coloured in purple details along the center of his legs, arms and chest. His helmet carried a purple mark of the mandalorian death watch, Barriss recognised it from reports during the war.
Through the group, Bruxa slowly stepped forward, being sure to step between Barriss and the line of fire, his hands raised in surrender. "You appear to have us at a disadvantage. You haven't killed us on the spot, which leads me to believe you want something." He stated, awaiting confirmation.
"You'd be correct." The other clone answered. His armour was designed almost identical to his brother, the only difference was his recon helmet with a thick purple line down the center. "We have orders to bring in these two jedi alive. The rest of you have the opportunity to save yourselves if you hand them over."
Barriss didn't say or do anything out of fear that any sudden movement might cause the men to open fire, or that she might say something to aggravate them. The queen noticed her hesitation and decided to take the lead. "Bardotta held no standing with the Republic and continues to remain separate from the Galactic Empire. The Jedi are here under my jurisdiction and will remain in my custody." She spoke as she placed herself at the front of the group, ready to take the brunt of the attack.
Quickly analysing their surroundings, Bruxa hastily stepped in front once again, slowly closing the distance. "If I may- I want to assume that the real reason you haven't killed us yet is because it's just the two of you here."
The clones both twitched slightly at this, so Bruxa continued. "We're not surrounded, you came her in a shuttle which means there can't be more than a squad of you. You, over there, you're a reconisance trooper, correct? And you? I'm assuming that you're either backup or a trainee under his wing. Doesn't matter. What does matter is that your main job is to report your findings to your superiors, but you haven't. You followed a tip of a Jedi on Tattooine, discovered they left on a ship towards Bardotta, came here to confirm your findings. But for some bizarre reason, the two of you thought for a mere second that you could bring the Jedi in yourselves, disregarded protocol in hopes of a promotion or a shiny new medal, I don't know what you clones strive for. But it's just the two of you against the six of us."
During the time of his drawn out conclusion, Bruxa had taken another step forward. When the two clones realised that they had been called out, they both looked to each other slightly nervously. The second they let their guard down, Bruxa reached forward and grabbed the recon troopers rifle, attempting to snatch it from his grip, spinning around as he did so that when the trooper reinforced his grip, he turned with him, creating a human shield between himself and the other clone.
Barriss took this as an opportunity to force push the purple trooper back, knocking him into the wall behind him, rendering him unconscious. The recon trooper looked back during his struggle with Bruxa, giving the cyborg the upper hand for him to roll forward, pulling the recon trooper over his back and into the waterfall to the right of them, knocking his head against a rock formation buried within.
"Ah, hell!" Bruxa muttered to himself as he reached into the waterfall with his right hand and pulled the trooper back out, he had no intention of killing the men if he didn't have to, especially not by drowning. He reached through the waterfall with his right hand, grabbing the recon specialist and pulling him out.
As he gasped for air, he threw his helmet off of his head to the side, his surprisingly long bleach blond hair was completely dry, his armourust have protected him from the acidic waterfall. He then looked at his surroundings, his brother was on the floor, breathing but unconscious. He then looked at his helmet before him, the thick purple mark down the center was now bright pink. Confused, he then looked down at the rest of his armour to see the all the previously purple markings had now been bleached pink from the waterfall. "What the?-" He was cut off from finishing his sentence as Roger held a blaster to his head.
"no te muevas" The battle droid warned him.
Bruxa smacked his lips together before speaking. "Well, that was exciting, wasn't it? Miss Offee, thankyou for your assistance. Now, your majesty, is there somewhere I can wash this off my hand before it starts to sting?" He asked, referring the his right hand as he shook the remaining droplets from the waterfall from his skin.
The queen walked forward and gently grabbed him by his wrist, causing him to wince at the touch. "The healing chambers in our monastery will have what you need. But I will need your abilities, young jedi." She spoke to both Barriss and Grogu.
"What about them?" Barriss finally spoke, referring to the clones.
"Weesa can figure that out later. Right now, weesa needs to be leaving here." Kleef added.
The healing chambers were true to their name, albeit somewhat bland in design. As they entered, the door opened to reveal a small circular room, a plain sheet of glass surrounding it, giving view to the beautiful wildlife of the world around them. In the center of the room, however, was a single bacta tank. But Barriss could not see who was inside.
"Why is the glass black?" She turned to the Queen.
Julia simply replied "Bardottan healers believe that cutting off a patients senses to the universe allows the body to focus solely on itself to heal"
Barriss looked confused at this. "Then how does this room help? I can see the world out there"
The Queen felt happy to teach the girl a thing or two. "Yes, you are correct. The room is clear to see the planet for what it is, pure potential of life. Do you see the beauty of it all, child? While in the tank, the patient's senses are cut off, but once they heal, we want their first impressions of the galaxy to be that of creation and beauty. Like a rebirth."
"Yes, this is all very interesting, but can we get back to my hand, please?" Bruxa strained as he continued to shake and rub his hand, the constant friction creating a tickling sensation across his skin in contrast to the stinging pain, it was clear which he preferred, although in an ideal world, he'd prefer no discomfort at all.
"Of course." queen answered. "Barriss, grab his hand with both of yours." She instructed.
"Wait, what? I- Ah! Damn it!" He hissed as Barriss clasped her hands around his. He then looked down as he noticed a small coping noise coming from the young child, his tiny green hand planted on his fellow Jedi's foot, channelling his own force essence through her.
Barriss reached out, her instincts telling her to prepare for an attack of some sort, but her willpower led her on to tighten her grip on Bruxa's hand.
Cold. It was so cold, she was almost certain that she was touching a corpse rather than a living being. She took a deep breath before letting out a slow exhale, relaxing her entire body, letting the energy from Bruxa find its way to her fingertips.
The warmth of the Bardottan Queen's palm on her forehead made her feel more at ease "Relax" "She whispered before continuing. "Feel the force around you as it is in all living things. From the burning molten core of the world to the ice in the space above. Feel the electricity of the storms, the breeze in the wind, the love of a mother for her child, the anger if something were to happen to that child. Emotions don't lead to the dark side, young Jedi, they are a fuel for all life forms, force sensitive or not. Breathe with me, and feel the energy of Bardotta flow through you and into the one we must save"
Barriss thought on all that she had said while leaving her body open. As she felt a sense of weightlessness come up from the ground beneath her flow up through her legs, she could see images, silhouettes. Faces she recognised, faces she did not, she saw Roger, Slick, clones she couldn't name. She saw a grand city surrounded by even grander walls, she saw weapons unlike any she had seen before, blasters with electric blue lighting and covered in a black and maroon paint. She saw a pair of red blades, spinning unnaturally heading towards her.
She saw explosions of every colour imaginable, a desert planet, a small army of armoured warriors flying in a V formation, sentinels on the ground, a colossal droid landing a fist onto a formation of rocks in the shape of a man as an oval moon orbited above, tentacles emerging from every crevasse. She saw creatures, humanoid in apprearence but their faces appeared skull like, covered in armour so natural in appearance that it seemed unnatural, as if made from flesh and bone. They wielded spears that melted into snakes that lunged for her, only to disappear into dust.
Then darkness. A sense of loss. Barriss was terrified, she felt helpless, unable to move until more reassuring words from the queen met her ears. "In the darkest of times is when even the smallest of kindnesses gives the greatest hope."
She then felt her own hand begin to tingle with energy, those tingles soon evolved into a burning sensation as Bruxa's own skin began to regenerate in front on everyone.
"Fascinating…" He whispered in pure awe as he flexed his fingers.
The queen smiled at the outcome and looked to one of her fellow Degoyan masters, who simply nodded and had guards escorts the two clone troopers to the halls if clarity.
"Behold! The halls of Clarity. A powerful Degoyan meditation observatory, designed to open your mind to the galaxy around us in order to achieve mental clarity. Now, the queen has instructed us to help you discover what is inside your head, clones. Lay down on the meditation bed." The tallest Bardottan of the guard said as he gestured to the elevated mattresses in the center of the room.
With weapons pointed towards them, the two clones walked up to the beds before a Degoyan followed up "It would be wise for you to remove your armour. Only when the body is truly relaxed is the mind as equal."
Suddenly the platform they were on had risen to the top of the observatory, giving both the pink and purple armoured brothers a perfect view of the sky above. Despite being completely exposed, both felt oddly relaxed, this might even be the comfiest beds they'd ever been on. All of their lives, they had simply traded one thin mattress for another. From the pods on Kamino, to the bunks in the barracks, it was easy to have trouble registering there was anything beneath them.
"Rest easy, clones. Take a deep breath as we shall channel our combined energies of the force to peer into your minds. Invite us in, you want our help, you desire answers" One of the elders spoke.
Not seeing any other choice than to play along, both brothers looked to each other and decided it was in their best interests to see where this goes. 'Rest easy… '
Everything seemed normal at first, both minds at ease. They drifted off to Kamino, the pure, clean white ascetic of the hallways always left everyone disorientated, never telling which way is which. Both thought back to a fun little fact one of the 501st medics told them during training. He told them about how Kaminoans have a sense of sight far beyond that of any other species, seeing a colour spectrum so advanced that everyone else's minds cannot process it so they only see white.
Something felt off. Thinking of Kamino, it left an itch within their Skulls. Only a small one, barely noticeable, like a distant memomory. The Degoyans noticed this itch and addressed it. "Clones. Your homeworld, we believe this is where something foreign was introduced into your mind. Think back. Back as far as you can remember so that we may find it"
Both clones tried. They thought as hard as they could, their earliest memory to date being cadets, no more than four years old, of course, to clones, they would be seen as eight. Sitting in a large square room facing a terminal like all their brothers beside them, learning strategies, revising battles of the Mandalorian wars, Darth Revan, Malak, Meetra Surik, Canderous Ordo and the battle of Malacor. Only one in two hundred thousand clones ever struggled with these studies. They both thought on this shared memory, they remembered completing a quiz on the subject of the Old Republic, the screen showed a perfect score with a caption beneath that read "Good soldiers follow orders"
"Good soldiers follow orders" They mimicked in unison. The feeling in their skulls evolving from an itch to an unmistakable pressure… Then nothing. Complete silence. The Degoyan high priest awoke the clone from his slumber.
"We cannot be sure, but we believe we have rooted out the anomaly within your minds, using our own abilities in the force to apply pressure to null it. You're-"
"Free…" The purple armoured clone finished the theory. "I- I remember everything. We were escorting a group of younglings to Illum for their trails and… and… oh…" He trailed off, the horrors of his memories now haunting him.
"… We didn't have any control." The pink one tried to reassure his brother.
"What… what do we do now?" The purple clone asked back.
"Perhaps you could work for me?" A voice echoed throughout the halls.
Both clones looked to the main entrance and saw the man who they had previously fought, accompanied by a reinforced B1.
"Clanker!" one of them shouted as they both jumped down from the platform and rushed to their weapons.
Bruxa stepped in front of Roger to protect him. "That won't be necessary. Roger won't hurt you, will you?" He then turned to the Droid.
"Sin promesas" The droids said flatly.
Bruxa stared at the mechanical man, mouth slightly open in confusion as to what he just said. A second went by before he smacked his lips. "I'm sure that means yes. Anyway! As I was saying, you two could work for me. I've recently come into possession of a small company and as it grows, I'll need staff. Security guard sounds like it'd suit the two of you. What do you say?"
Both clones looked to each other, unsure as to what the alternative could possibly be in this changing galaxy. "We'll do it."
Bruxa clapped his hands once. "Perfect! And your names are?..."
The purple trooper placed a hand on his chest. "I'm Horns. And he's CT-1808."
"No name?" He asked as he tilted his head.
"Never had one that stuck. Nothing felt like me." The clone simply answered.
Bruxa then gave a comforting smile. "Some might see it as a privilege to name yourself, so many of us are named by our parents, you'd think it'd be easy. Perhaps you simply have to grow into a name given to you by someone else like the rest of us." He pondered aloud.
"Such as?"
"Bleach comes to mind when I look at your armour. Though, maybe you'll grow into the name Pinky." The cyborg chuckled.
Both clones joined in light laughter as the nameless one shook his head. "No… Bleach is fine. For now, at least… What's next then, boss?"
"What's next?" Bruxa smiled before continuing. "What's next is that we head to a remote asteroid in former CIS space in search of something that'll launch our company into the stars."
Barriss walked towards Vindi's shuttle, the queen and Kleef walking either side with Grogu held gently in the Gungans arms.
"You're sure he'll be safe here?" She asked.
"I've spoken briefly with Representative Binks. He does not know the whole story, but is willing to offer resources to take both Kleef and the child off world somewhere safe." Julia confidently answered before following. "Wherever they go, even I shall not know the details to ensure that the Empire can never follow them."
"I take it you're being well compensated for this job then, Kleef?" She asked, still unsure of the queen's trust in the bounty hunter.
Kleef looked into the eyes of the infant older than himself. "Meesa dones lotsa bombad things for credits. But watching this one, meesa do for free." He said with a genuine smile. Who'd have guessed that the gungan warrior was so paternal?
As the group rounded a corner, they almost bumped into Bruxa with the clones and Roger in tow. "Barriss! What a surprise. You needn't worry about these two, they're with me now. Security consultants for my company's new upcoming weapons division." The cyborg explained, excited at the prospect.
"So, you weren't lying. You actually own Czerka?"
"Yes. Well, not yet. Solomon and I came to another agreement. The prototype was lost but I secured and sent over the schematics. He was just as happy to have myself and the Czerka name out of his hair. Told him that you both unfortunately perished during the mission so that's one loose end taken care of. You're welcome, by the way. Given the coordinates that the computer from the jawas on Tattooine holds, I'd be willing to bet that the official Czerka documents needed to cement my ownership will be there. Kardde also had a few documents to sell to me before all of this, but I have big plans for the galaxy. Empire, Republic, Separatist, doesn't matter. We will thrive."
"Sounds ambitious. You couldn't have just told me all of this from the beginning?" She asked, genuinely annoyed at her supposed ally keeping her in the dark.
"I couldn't, no. I've made my livelihood on the importance of well kept secrets. Telling those I don't trust my business would leave me where I began, exiled from my family and my people on a world I knew nothing of." Bruxa rambled on. Barriss had taken note to take everything that this man said with a pinch of salt. If there were ever any truth to his words, it would only be in the loosest possible sense of the word. But this small packet of information, this story of his beginnings, she could see that this was all true.
"This guy sure likes to talk a lot." Bleach commented to his brother.
"Seems that way." Horns replied quietly.
"Maybe he just like the sound of his own voice?"
"Maybe."
"Think we're making a mistake working for him?"
"Not a lot of options anywhere else. Let's just wait in the ship, he'll find us once he's done." The medic suggested as the two of them gave a brief nod to their new employer before departing.
Bruxa then took note of his entourage making their way out. "Ah, that appears to be my quest to leave. Before I go, Barriss. I have something for you." He said in an all too friendly manor as he passed her a data chip. "I checked Republic news broadcasts right up until the end of the war. Articles suggest that your old master was with Master Yoda himself on Kashyyyk. If you're looking for your people, I'd start there."
In the single day that she had come to know Bruxa Morei, she knew he was not a man to be trusted at face value. He was after something, even in this seemingly generous moment of his life, he had an ulterior motive. That said, she couldn't afford to pass up the chance to make things right with her master and other Jedi. So, she then reached out and took the chip. "Thank you." She smiled.
"Sí, dejaré de lado el planeta con vida silvestre que come carne y metal por igual. Ven a buscarme cuando hayas terminado." Roger then stated before following the two clones to Bruxa's ship.
Barriss still didn't understand the droid, nor did she care to. "Looks like he doesn't want to come with. Keep hold of him for me." She joked to the new Czerka head as she prepared to say her goodbyes to her fellow Jedi.
"Until we meet again, Barriss Offee…" Morei breathed out ominously as he made his way off world.
Barriss then gently grabbed Grogu from Kleef's arms and held him in her own and looked into his large dark eyes. "I won't be able to keep you safe, little one. I know you remember much more than most species do in comparison to your age so just… don't forget me, okay? Remember the good I did in the end. Remember the good I'm still trying to do. May the force be with you." She softly spoke as she rested her head against his. One last maternal gesture to keep the young Jedi safe before walking towards a single seated Bardottan transport.
Despite being an infant of his species, Grogu was in his mid-twenties, older than Barriss herself. She wasn't wrong in understanding that he would remember this day. He would remember her. He would remember the tale of Barriss Offee.
Present day...
"After that, I spent several weeks exploring the Wookie homeworld, evading the flora, fauna and the empire alike." The mirialan said as she was finishing her story.
Both Slick and Mustard were on the edge of their seats. She had been to three different planets, made a deal with the galaxy's most notorious information broker, took part in industrial espionage, unlocked a forgotten force ability and made allies with a corporate entity. All in a couple days.
Mustard was the first one to break the short silence. "Did… did you ever find your master?" He asked cautiously, almost afraid he already knew the answer.
Barriss took a breath, she knew she'd have to talk about it sooner or later. "Not her body, no." She exhaled. "It took some digging, but an imperial prison compound on the planet confirmed her death."
"I'm sorry." Slick then offered his condolence. "I can't imagine what it'd be like to lose someone with that sort of connection."
She gave a weak smile. "Thankyou." She then swallowed the saliva building in her mouth. "Right. Back to Czerka. Morei never gave me an official way of contacting him, so the last place I saw him will have to be enough. Sev, how are we looking?" She then asked their designated pilot.
"I have a visual on the Bardottan temple-" The commando paused.
"What? What is it?" She then asked, this time with a slightly panicked tone in her voice.
"Barriss, I'm sorry. But the temple is nothing but rubble."
What was once the halls of clarity that other clones had once passed through, was now in ruin. The ceilings collapsed, walls demolished, dried up Bardottan corpses strewn across the ground.
"You think the Empire did this?" Mustard asked to whoever would answer, carefully stepping over another body.
Sev knelt down to inspect the scorch marks on the walls. "Hmm. Hard to say. These marks don't look like anything left behind by Republic weapons. See this web pattern singed into the walls around the initial mark? That's an electrical spread, almost like the blaster bolts were supercharged with arc energy. Haven't seen anything like it."
"Huh. Weird." Was all the young clone could say I response as he continued to navigate the fallen temple.
Slick made his way over to his ally. "This is gonna be a stupid question, but I have to ask anyway. Are you…"
"Okay? How can I be? These people are likely dead because of me." She spoke as she couldn't lift her head up to meet his gaze.
Slick wasn't sure what to say, but he felt like he had to say something. "Well… we haven't found any gungan bodies, or anyone smaller…" He trailed off, now realising the image he was creating would only make things worse. Then, just as he was about to try and dig himself out of the metaphorical hole he dug, he stopped himself again upon hearing something. A tapping. One after the other, rhythmic, one, two, pause, one, two, pause, one, two, pause.
It was a heartbeat.
"Do you hear that?" He asked, looking around for a speaker system, a monitor, anything.
"Hear what?" She asked back, finally taking a moment to collect her thoughts and listen. "Wait. Yes! Where is that coming from?"
Sev and Mustard looked at the former prisoners as they wondered through what was once the doorway to the clarity halls and down the crumbled path of the old hallways. "Guess we're moving on." Sev commented.
"Nice of them to tell us." Mustard grumbled before starting to follow.
"Doesn't surprise me. I guess you haven't been here long enough to notice, but they have this… connection. I don't know how else to explain it." The commando tried to elaborate.
"Connection? Are they?..." The youngest clone trailed off, not wanting to say it outright.
"Romantically involved? Hah. No. Gross. No, they have this weird bond. It was right before the mission to Ryloth, Slick started showing signs of heightened senses and reflexes."
"What? Like a jedi?" Mustard tried to joke, but he didn't have to be a jedi to sense that he was on the right track. The commando's silence was all the answer he needed. "No way! We can do that?!" He followed up, almost excited at the possibility.
Sev then slowed in his pace, bringing himself to walk alongside his brother. "We? I don't think so. My reflexes are what they are due to my training. Slick is something else."
"Oh." Was all he could say in response, somewhat disappointed.
As the ragtag fireteam came to a second demolished area, they stopped before a large pile of rubble perfectly in the center of the room. Atop the rubble was a metal casing of some sort, big enough for a person to squeeze through if opened.
"I think it's coming from there." Slick theorised, looking back to the Jedi for confirmation.
"I think you're right." She said before looked back and forth between Slick and the rubble. "Come here. I want to try something."
Without hesitation, the sergeant stood before her, curious as to what she had in mind. "What are we doing?"
She placed her arms on his shoulders before applying ample pressure to turn him to face the rubble. "I want you to close your eyes and focus solely on the heartbeat." She instructed, keeping one hand placed on his shoulder as she began channeling the force within her through her arm and into his body.
Slick then did as instructed and began to focus.
One. Two.
One. Two.
One. Two.
"Now, open your mind. Hear every noise, feel every brush of wind, smell the charred remains, taste the dust as it enters your mouth when you breath. Keep your eyes closed and picture the rubble before you. You know it's there, you can see it in every other sense but physically." She spoke softly with each detail.
"I can." Slick confirmed as he felt Barriss' free hand gently grab his forearm and move it upwards to face the rubble.
"Open your hand. Reach out. Picture yourself lifting the rubble and repeat after me. I am one with the force and the force is with me."
"I am one with the force and the force is with me. I am one with the force and the force is with me. I am one with the force and the force is with me." They both repeated in sync, again and again and again until the smaller rocks and dust amongst the pile began to shake and tremble, slowly rising off the ground by mere millimeters, then centimeters, nearly reaching a full foot off the pile before the larger rocks began to wriggle free and gently move upwards.
"Whoa." Was all the other two clones could say in aw.
As Slick could feel this indescribable power flowing through him, the vision of the rubble lifting before him began to fade away. As it did so, he strained to bring that image back into his mind, only for his focus to now be redirected on his outstretched arm, believing that to be where he should focus his energy.
He was wrong.
Slick lost his focus as and rocks quickly collapsed back onto the pile, some rolling away as they landed, revealing a bright blue glow in the center.
Barriss quickly took a step in front of Slick and turned to look him in the eye. "It's alright. That was really impressive for your first time. Further than a lot of younglings, even." She smiled before turning back towards the rubble and continuing the remove the rocks herself with relative ease.
Slick just stood there, still processing the concentrated raw power he had just felt. That feeling of aw and shock was quickly replaced by that of defeat and slight embarrassment at his failure. He and the other two clones then took several steps closer to the center of the room and quickly saw a large black cylindrical tube with bright blue glowing cracks emanating from within.
"Is that a bacta tank?" Mustard asked.
"I think so." Slick answered, quickly glancing at his brother realising this is the first real conversation they have had since Ryloth. It was still strange for him to process that this clone had the same name as his batch brother. Looking back, he realised that this was a ridiculous reason to avoid him, but he would have to work through that later.
Sev took an initiative and walked past Barriss who was catching her breath after moving a heavy load. As he did so, he caught his foot on something, nearly tripping in the process but quickly saved himself. He looked down at his foot and saw that he had actually caught himself on what could only be a tripwire in his experience. "Oh no." He muttered under his breath, realising the rookie mistake he had just made. "Get down!" He shouted as he pushed Barriss to the floor, Slick did the same with Mustard.
But there was no explosion.
The group looked around and after several seconds, all quickly began standing up. Everyone looked down at the wire, then back at Sev, understanding his instincts. Mustard then knelt down to inspect the wire and cautiously began following it to another small pile of rubble.
"I think it's just a normal cable." He said with relative certainty.
"May be a good idea to follow it. Might give us an idea of who or what happened here." Slick suggested. His focus remaining on the bacta tank as he tried to peek through the cracks as to who was inside.
"See anything?" The commando asked, walking up alongside him.
"Too bright to tell." He replied, looking around to see a control panel next to the tank. "Blast! Needs a code to open."
Sev then placed his weapon on his back and with a flick of his wrist, a small blade popped out of his gauntlet. "It's already cracked. Might as well break it open."
"Wait!" Barriss shouted as she grabbed his forearm and brought the blade back down. "Bardottan medical equipment is extremely sensitive. Sure, there might be cracks, but there are no leaks so just to be safe, we have to find that code." She then explained.
"Uh… guys?"
All three heads turned towards Mustard, who held a rusted brown B-1 battle droid head in his hands, the cable he was following still plugged in. Behind the young clone was the rest of the body, reinforced and surprisingly intact, albeit missing a head.
"Separatists? They did this?" Slick then asked, inspecting the droid head.
"No. We'd have seen more droid debris. Besides, why would they leave this one with power?" Sev answered with a follow up question.
"Oh, gracias al creador, volviste." The speakers from the droid head emitted in a deep voice setting. Causing Mustard to panic and drop the head.
"Ow. Why did you drop me?"
Barriss cautiously stepped towards the severed head, carefully picking it up with the force and bringing it to her hands. "…Roger? Is that you? Wait. You can speak basic?"
"I've always been able to speak basic. When that idiot dropped me, he must've knocked a storage unit back into place. Now can you put me back together please?" The brown droid politely asked.
The process to reattach his head was relatively simple, just a matter of popping the neck joint into the connecting port with a quick twist. With a click, the limbs quickly jerked as Roger stood to his feet. "Thankyou."
"Roger. What happened here?" Barriss then asked. The three clones behind her still unsure of what to make of an ally B-1 unit.
Roger began walking over to the cracked bacta tank and typed in the code required to begin the opening process. "Director Morei sent me here with specific instructions to bring you to him when you inevitably returned. When I arrived, the attacking forces had not long left. Only one survived the onslaught. I brought them here." He explained as the bacta tank began to hiss as pressurised steam burst out from the hinges.
As the pod opened, glowing blue bacta liquid trickled through the rubble and debris, flowing past the former walls of the healing chamber and down into the mountain base. The difference in temperature caused a thick steam to obscure the figure behind the veil until they cooled down, revealing a Degoyan with a severed left arm. He looked around to see a slightly familiar face, then those of the clones. His focus was then drawn to the halls around him, scattered and disregarded, decimated. He fell to his knees in sadness and began to cry.
Barriss knelt down to pick the Degoyan back up to his feet and couldn't restrain from asking the obvious. "What happened here?"
The Degoyan swallowed the saliva built up in his mouth before answering. "The Banished Trandoshan clans. They attacked without warning, without a chance to surrender. They had advanced weapons like nothing I have ever seen."
"Why?" It was Slick who then asked, curious as to how Callidus could have possibly known that this would be somewhere significant to them, or if it was just mere coincidence. Though, from what General Kenobi had once told him on Christophsis before an ambush, there is no such thing as coincidence.
The Degoyan's eyes darted around the room until they landed back on Barriss. "They were looking for Bruxa Morei. For what, I don't know. I… You…" He then trailed off, anger in his voice as he addressed the former Jedi. "You brought him to my world!" He shouted as he then rushed at her, grabbing a large rock with one hand as he tried to take a swing.
Barriss jumped back early enough, sensing his shift in emotions. Sev, Slick, Roger and Mustard all raised their weapons at the Bardottan native. "Stand down!" Slick ordered.
The Degoyan was having none of it. He did not care for his own life, he was just a crippled mess of mixed emotions, taking them out on the closest person he could see.
Roger wasted no time in putting the Degoyan down like a rabid animal.
"You didn't have to do that." Barriss scolded the droid.
"The threat has been eliminated." Roger said matter-of-factly, even for a droid.
Realising that there was no use in further reprimanding Roger for his actions, Barriss took in a deep breath before deciding what to do next. "Just… gather anything useful from here then let's just go." She then brought her commlink to just below her chin and tried to hail the Silver Lining. "Faun Shae, Bardotta was a bust. We're coming back to you now."
She was met with only silence. Irritated, she hailed again. "Faun Shae, do you read me? We're making our way back."
Silence again.
"Faun Shae! By the force, will you please just pick up the call?!" She shouted, concerning the clones and droid in her presence.
There was a series of hisses and crackles before a voice could be heard over the comms. "…-der attack from Imperial forces. I repeat. Do not return!"
Everyone began looking at each other with visible worry on their faces, which was saying something considering most of them were in full body armour and one of them had a still droid head.
Mustard broke the uncomfortable silence. "Is that… Agent Alphard?"
End of chapter
Hi guys. It's been well over a year since I last posted a chapter for this fic. Alot has happened in that time, I'm a dad now so my free time to work on my story has all but disappeared, but I have been slowly working on this chapter for a very long time. Hope you enjoyed. Maybe this will give me the momentum to continue the fic for the rest of the year.