ISB Agent Doranu Bek monitored the same system for the past few hours, high orbit over the planet Bardotta. A satellite pinged a ship of unknown design jumping in earlier this week before sending shuttles down to the surface. The only indication of any affiliation was the seemingly freshly painted emblem of the Banished Trandoshan Clans.
Even during his days as a risk assessment officer in the Republic Navy, Doranu had heard stories about their leader, Calidus. A walking trophy case, a zealot in the eyes of his own people, taking their traditions and beliefs so far that they cast him out for his devotion. But his faith and actions inspired others, not all of them from his own species.
While the activities of pirates this close to imperial space would be cause for concern, the planet was scheduled for a routine inspection in a week or so anyway. But Doranu's superiors advised him to keep quiet about the piracy in this system. The people of Bardotta barely held close ties with the Republic, some of their higher-class members actually going against it. It was decided that it was in Imperial interests to play the role of saviours to gain favour at the time of their inspection. With all that said, Admiral Tarkin had also issued piracy permits to specific gangs, stating that they would not interfere with Imperial economic development. Calidus and his Banished clan had obtained such a permit as soon as they were issued.
Four days from the scheduled inspection, a small probe entered the atmosphere almost exactly where the previous visitors had landed. Doranu made a brief note of it in his findings, but chose not to submit the report as he believed it to be a pirate territorial marker, something that the Empire would deal with at the time of the inspection.
Two days before the scheduled inspection, another ship entered and hovered in mid to high orbit in the same position. This surely had to be cause for concern now. He scanned the vessel and concluded that this small scale medical freighter matched the description of a similar ship in the Kashyyyk and Ryloth systems. Reports also indicated the crew to be a group of renegade clones, including Sergeant Hound of the Coruscant guard, Lieutenant Boil of the 212th, Private Dogma of the 501st, and most curiously, former Sergeant Slick, also of the 212th.
Doranu had pulled up the profile reports on these clones and found Slick's to be the most interesting, as he was once declared incarcerated alongside the former Jedi padawan Barriss Offee, current status unknown, presumed alive and dangerous. This was most definitely something to include in his report. A report that was flagged for the inquisitorius, who in turn, redirected the report to Captain Nova on board the Conviction, with a reference title: Succeed, or remain in exile.
On the moderately small bridge of the Conviction, Captain Nova stood beside the bounty hunter known as Rako Hardeen. Nova didn't think much of the man, his profession didn't gain him any favours of respect from the clone. Hell, even his crowning achievement wasn't really his own; the man who killed General Obi-Wan Kenobi.
When Sergeant Reyes wrote up the brief psyche dossiers on his "Jedi Hunters", He had very little to work with in regards to Hardeen aside from the fact that he's extremely egotistical. Apparently, he had been spinning a story to the handful of TK troopers left on the corvette that he had been the one to put down Kenobi for good this time. He couldn't handle to truth of the matter and spun his tales to anyone who would listen. Didn't work, of course. These enlistees read the news on the day the Empire was formed they knew Kenobi died on Utapau, lightyears away from Hardeen on Coruscant.
"Why don't we just blast them out of space?" The bounty hunter grumbled.
"Because Lord Vader and the Grand Inquisitor want Offee alive." Nova simply put it.
Hardeen huffed in mild frustration before following up. "And the clones? Are they to be brought in alive too?"
There was a brief pause in Nova's response. He never served with these clones personally, but they were still his brothers. "N- No. Only Barriss Offee is wanted for questioning. The rest of the crew on that ship are expendable."
To this, Hardeen raised an eyebrow. "Wow. They really do have full control over you, don't they? Killing your own brothers because they tell you to. That's cold." He chuckled.
Before anyone on the bridge could even anticipate what was about to happen, Nova spun a perfect ninety degrees in place to face Hardeen, reaching forward to grab the bounty hunter's rifle, snatching it away before his eyes, before he registered what was happening. The next thing he saw was the butt of his rifle smashed into his own face.
The bridge was silent. None of the enlisted crew dared to question their captain's decision to assault his specialist. They all stood still in shock and fear. Watching as Rako Hardeen struggled to get to his hands and knees, his body wobbling side to side as a result of the blunt force to his brain.
Nova lifted his leg and placed his boot on the back of Hardeen's neck, pressing his head to the floor. "YOU are an asset to be used and thrown away. Nothing more. So, you will know your place and not speak back to your commanding officer." He almost spat inside his helmet.
The captain then pointed at a nearby officer who froze in fear. "You. Have Iota squad get him ready." He then turned back to look out the window of the bridge. "All hands! Man your stations and await my command. Ensign! Hail them. We will only warn them once."
"How's he doin?" Hound asked Faun Shae, genuinely concerned for his brothers wellbeing.
Faun Shae pressed his long fingers on the glass of the bacta tank and closed his eyes. "Dogma's body is healing well. His mind, however… is a different set of issues. His brain went several minutes without oxygen. Even if he awakens, there will be gaps in his memories, he might even forget how to breathe… He should have never been down there." He almost hissed.
Hound wanted to say something, but couldn't quite find the words. He wanted to agree with the alien. Dogma is less than a qualified soldier, even more so now than he was before. But despite his own body and mind showing that he wasn't ready for this, he rose to the challenge, saved Slick. Who knows what the outcome would have been if he hadn't distracted Cody.
Finally, he said his piece. "Hmm. At the end of the day, that boy's a soldier. You made him- made us all, to be that. It's what we were bred for, what we were designed to be. It's in his nature, whether you like it or not. Not saying that's an excuse for how things turned out. Just a matter of fact."
Faun didn't seem to like this answer. No matter how uncharacteristically diplomatic Hound may have made it come across as. There was no changing his mind on the fact that this ragtag squad of misfit clone rebels had directly caused his most precious creation harm. The Kaminoan could only left out a small huff before dismissing himself to the bridge.
Faun Shae had actually grown a liking to the bridge as his unofficial quarters a small uncomfortable military cot folded out when he desired it, but he rarely slept either way. He was simply satisfied by the sheer magnitude of space, it made him feel like anything were possible if he knew where to look. A world out there, somewhere for him to take Dogma away from it all. Of course, this was what these squads of red and blue soldiers desired too, however, their efforts in doing so have only put themselves more at risk. They have put Dogma more at risk.
Faun Shae would not allow that to happen again. So much so, that when the Silver Lining had been hailed by an Imperial Corvette, he had enough motive to obey their demands, with a demand of his own.
"This is Doctor Faun Shae of the Kaminoan science cloning division. I shall fully comply with your demands and give you all relevant information on the fugitives Barriss Offee and CT-3572. I shall ensure that the crew on board do not retaliate… On the condition that you spare myself and one clone of my choosing."
Nova paused for a brief moment. He hadn't heard of kaminoan valuing one clone over others in any way that resembles compassion. Though, he couldn't be sure of the scientists intentions. For all he knew, this doctor Faun Shae may have truly barbaric experiments in mind for this specific clone. He wasn't sure if he was willing to subject a brother to that, he'd almost rather put him down out of mercy. This was a decision he would have to come to when the situation demanded it, for now, he would play along. "Very well."
The captain then turned to his enlistee lieutenant. "What's the status of our platoon?"
Reyes responded without looking up from his data pad. "Alpha and Beta squads are fully staffed and equipped, awaiting assignment. The remaining half of Iota squad has fallen under the command of Hardeen as you requested. I would also note that both V-wing fighters are prepped and ready for launch on your command."
Nova shook his head slightly at this. "Unnecessary. Our informant has shut down power to both shields and turret controls. But as a precaution, we will send the lightweight dropship between the two vessels. Have someone from engineering weld on additional seats in the rear detachable compartment and make sure that Hardeen and Iota squad are equipped with oxygen canisters."
Boil stood before the brig rayshield door with a tray of food from the canteen in his hands, his helmet was off and at the foot of the entrance, he had grown accustom to the lack of protocol inboard the silver lining. These colourful clones didn't operate as any squad under one leader, they were all men working towards the same goal and he found that suited him just fine. Ever since umbara, since losing Waxer, he had often found difficulties maintaining himself to the standard of the grand army of the Republic. He skipped out on routine training sessions, had snuck rations into his quarters to feast on through the night and had even managed to secure contraband holofilms for his own entertainment.
While Cody would have reprimanded him for his disobedience, General Kenobi was often willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. That was something he always admired about the Jedi, he was genuinely kind to his men. It was something Boil had found to place him with a feeling of regret after the executive order was issued.
His concentration on the past was broken when he noticed that Alphard had stopped his noon routine of one hundred pushups. "Lunchtime already?" He asked casually.
Boil placed the tray on the floor before pressing a button on the door console, allowing a small opening to appear at the base of the shield, less than a foot in diameter before sliding the tray into the cell with his foot. "I don't get why you keep at it." The clone commented.
"Keep at what?" Alphard asked as he pinched off a quarter of the ration bar before taking a bite.
"Training. Exercise. Whatever. If I was stuck in a cell with nothing but a bed and a toilet, I can give you two guesses as to the two things I'd be doing." He almost whined.
Alphard held up a finger to excuse himself as he finished chewing before swallowing. "So, have you always been this lazy? I thought clones were supposed to be the perfect soldiers."
Boil had grown used to that description of himself in the last few days. Lazy. Particularly by Hound, who took great amusement in putting him down. "Whatever, man. There's a lot about clones that even the kaminoans didn't know about until it was too late."
"Such as?" The Nubian agent raised an eyebrow.
The clone huffed with a slight smile at being smarter than what others perceived for a moment. "Well, aside from the fact that their inhibitor chips become defunct and degrade after a single use? There's the fact that one in ten clones have a mild blood sugar imbalance. Some of us have more than the occasional hankering for sweets."
"Is that why my lunch is missing a dessert?" Alphard followed up with a smirk, clearly taking a dig at Boil's unhealthy tenancies.
Before the clone could say something back, the sound of blaster fire caught both of their attention a Hound came running into the brig and smashed the door panel to the hallway, causing the blast doors to seal shut, keeping everyone inside the brig.
"What the kriff, Hound? What's going on?" Boil asked as he picked up his helmet off the floor and armed himself with a pistol from his belt.
As the Sergeant caught his breath, he finally answered. "We've been boarded. Imperials have taken the doc and have a bounty hunter with them. They outnumber us three to one!"
Both clones went from looking at each other, to slowly turning their heads towards their prisoner. "What do we do with him, sarge?" Boil asked.
Hound lowered his head slightly in thought. "Hmm. I don't like the situation we're in. But maybe we could do a prisoner exchange? This imp for the doc."
"Won't work." Alphard said coldly before elaborating. "Imperial protocol forbids negotions with enemies of the Empire. They'd sooner kill your kaminoan friend and me alongside him before considering giving him back."
Boil was getting visibly frustrated at this point, throwing his arms in the air. "We don't have time for this! There's only so much time before they find Dogma. What do you think they'll do when they see a mentally damaged clone? They'll put him down like a womp rat before he even has the chance to wake up."
"Then we need to get out of here and get him fast!" Hound began to order.
Just as the order was made, all three men slowly looked at the damaged door panel.
"Whoops…" The Sergeant grumbled.
"What's the hold up?" Rako Hardeen demanded to know as he approached two of his TK troopers.
"The red one barricaded himself in the brig. I think there's more in there with him." One of the troopers answered.
"We don't have time for this. Stand back and be ready to move in one my signal!" He barked as he placed a plasma charge against the blast door.
In a matter of seconds, the door blew back against the rayshield, bouncing off and hitting the floor. Both TK troopers followed in immediately with their weapons raised at the two clones inside the cell.
Rako followed them in and folded his arms. "You protected yourselves by activating the shield. Smart. But also stupid seeing as you're both now trapped in there."
The two clones compliantly removed their weapons and helmets, both standing oddly close together, their legs blocking the ventilation shaft at the floor of the cell.
"Well. We can't get everything right." Hound grumbled.
The sweat on Agent Alphard's body was making it extremely difficult to maneuver through the Silver Lining vent systems. With every shuffle and huff, he continued to grumble out the words "Stupid" and "idiots" multiple times.
"First day of my new assignment and what do I get? Kidnapped by a dysfunctional unit of clones with who knows how many mental disorders. Now they've got me crawling through a warm, sticky vent. You gotta be kidding m-" He stopped his internally directed rant as he found himself before an opening above the medical bay.
When he peered through the grates, he saw Faun Shae standing next to a TK trooper as he began to press buttons on the console to Dogma's bacta tank.
"The process of draining the tank only takes a few minutes. After that, I will need assistance in bringing the specimen to your ship."
The troopers shoulders slumped slightly before standing to attention again. "I am here to oversee the transfer, not to aid you. If you want this clone so bad, bring him yourself." He barked.
Although Kaminoans rarely showed much in the way of facial expressions, the doctor narrowed his eyes at the soldier in anger and frustration before leaving the room, no doubt to get the training droids to help him move the clone.
As soon as he left, Alphard gently removed the grate over the vent and threw it at the back of the troopers head, knocking him out in one hit. He then gently descended down onto the medical bay floor as to not alert the other troops to his presence.
Dogma's tank slowly opened but the clone was still unconscious. Alphard looked around the room to find something to cover the man with and opened a storage locker, inside were two sets of phase two clone armour.
One was white with primarily blue markings, he recognised this armour as Dogma's when he caught a glance at him during the Ryloth mission, the second set of armour was his own. It was nice that the clones had kept it, though he knew deep down they didn't do it for him, more likely spare parts.
Before adorning his armour once again, he peered out into the hallway to check the coast was clear. He then set the TK troopers weapon down on the bench by the bacta tank and suited up.
"You'll only have to take that off again." Faun Shae spoke softly as Alphard turned to see the kaminoan holding an imperial blaster pistol in his direction.
Alphard slowly raised his hands in surrender as he took a small step back towards the blaster on the table.
"I wouldn't." Shae coldly warned him. "My bargain with the Empire is for me and Dogma to leave this place. What happens to the rest of you is beyond my concern. However, if you surrender willingly, they might spare your life."
Alphard didn't say a word. In his years of experience working for the Naboo Royal Guard, he had picked up a thing or two on how to negotiate at gunpoint. A cold and rational individual such as a typical kaminoan would simply pull the trigger should things not go their way. The very fact that this doctor was acting so paternal over one clone made him anything but rational. The best way to deal with him was to say nothing. The less he says, the more Faun Shae would say to fill the void of silence.
The kaminoans hand began shaking slightly. "I don't know you. You may have been there, but you did not do this damage. I know that. Please surrender peacefully."
Silence, once more.
"I don't want to kill you. I don't want to kill any of you! But there's no other way out for Dogma and me. Surely you understand that I have to do this."
"Then don't." Alphard finally spoke calmly.
"It's not that simple!" Faun Shae hissed through gritted teeth, his arm visibly tiring from the weight of the weapon.
"It can be. You don't want to kill anyone. So don't. The only one who can make that decision is you."
Alphard never knew that kaminoans could sweat. At least, he thought it was sweat and hopefully not some sort of secretion from eel like pours. Faun Shae closed his eyes tight and took in a sharp inhale before shuddering out his breath. His grip on his weapon never firmer that this moment.
"I've made my decision." He said coldly right before a blaster bolt could be heard.
Only it didn't come from Faun Shae's gun. The doctor looked down at his chest, seeing a soldering hole where his heart should be before his body went limp as he collapsed to the ground.
Alphard looked behind him as he heard where the shot came from, only to see Dogma shakily holding the gun in the direction of his former friend before dropping the blaster. "I-… I had to." He let out, his jogged memory coming back to him on glimpses of what happened on Umbara.
And then the memories were gone.
Dogma shook his head, unsure of where he was, still trying to remember how he got to where he was. "I'm sorry I don't know your name." He spoke, almost in a childlike curious tone.
Alphard was unsure of how to approach this situation. He had known of Dogmas mental state already on account of the red and blue troopers never shutting up, it wasn't difficult to overhear. Whatever is going on in that head is probably something that scholars would kill to understand. Nevertheless, he saw this young clone much as Faun Shae had done. Innocent.
"Hi. My name is Alphard. And you're Dogma, right?" He asked, reassuringly.
"Are we friends?" Dogma asked back, his eyes wide with optimism.
Something inside of Alphard broke in that moment. No amount of training would have ever prepared him for this particular scenario. There are protocols in place for dealing with lost children back on Naboo, sure. But this was a grown man.
At least, that's what he initially thought. Then he had an epiphany. Clones are engineered, unnatural. He remembered that clones were engineered with accelerated aging to be produced quickly. By the battle of Geonosis, the clones were only ten years old, the clone wars lasted for three more years on top of that. Slick, Sev, even Boil, they referred to Dogma as their younger brother. Even a year or two younger would make Dogma only about eleven or twelve. His mind must have somehow reverted to its actual age as a result of the trauma.
"Yes, Dogma. We're friends." He smiled.
"Sir! The Kaminoans dead and the bacta tank is empty."
Hardeen rolled his eyes at the TK troopers' incompetence. "Well, that's one less thing to worry about either way. We're moving out, men. The Jedi isn't here, she must be on the planet's surface. Someone tell Vendetta he's gonna want to get down there. Leave these two in the cell and set the reactor to blow. If we find the other one during out sweep, put him down. If not, doesn't matter, they won't be leaving this ship."
"Aw kriff." Boil grumbled.
"Reckon that was the agent?" Hound quietly asked.
"No, I think it was the other former imperial operative we had on this ship- Of course it was him! Who else could it be?" the 212th lieutenant answered with aggression in his voice. Clearly uneasy regarding the situation they were about to be in.
As Hardeen and another trooper left the brig, both clones looked to each other in a moment of unease. They knew their plan was a long shot, they weren't even sure that Alphard would help them. For all they knew, he hopped in an escape pod and left them to fend for themselves.
Suddenly, the sound of rumbling above their heads caught their attention as a soldier in white and blue armour dropped down from the ceiling and ungracefully landed on his stomach before shooting back up straight as if he hadn't just injured himself. "Hello!" He said quickly and cheerfully.
"Dogma! You're awake!" Hound stated in excitement. He wasn't sure if he could take loosing another brother, especially with the war supposedly over.
"How'd you know where to find us?" Boil then asked, please toy surprised himself at the sight of their little brother.
"He didn't." Alphard said coldly as he then dropped down from the same shaft Dogma had fallen through. "Come on. The ship is gonna be nothing but debris soon. Grab your gear and we'll head to the escape pod."
The rayshield dispersed and Boil walked out to pick up a blaster. "There was only a small squad. We can take them." He boasted confidently.
"No. We can't. I've been monitoring their comms. Charges are already set on the reactor." Alphard explained as he held up a stolen imperial device on his wrist. "I've tried to warn the ground team not to come back. We can only hope they got the message."
While the former Agent was explaining the situation, Hound was already putting on his helmet, armouring up in record time. "Then let's skiddadle on outta here men!"
On the surface of Bardotta
"What do we do?" Mustard asked aloud, hoping any one of his new squad would chime in with an idea.
Barriss was sat down with he legs crossed in a meditative pose, her eyes closed as she fell into a deep thought before answering. "Alphard warned us not to return. We must trust in the force that they will make their way to us." She spoke calmly.
"You really believe that?" Slick then butted in, clearly agitated. "He's an Imperial Agent. He tried to kill you."
"The clones did try to execute him on Ryloth... Can't imagine he'd be welcomed back." Sev then added, trying to make sure the situation remained calm.
Barriss took in a deep breath once more before speaking. "I… haven't listened to the force for some time since, well- are really long time. But I believe it's telling me to trust in it. That everything is in motion as it should be. So we wait."
Slick's anger began to show as he answered back. "You're starting to sound like the rest of the Jedi. They sat back and did nothing time and time again when there was plenty that could have been done."
That broke Barriss from her meditation. Her eyes narrowed at her currently difficult friend. "You have this amazing ability to listen and understand what the very universe is trying to convey to you, the same as I, and you're choosing to ignore it."
The Sergeant gritted his teeth at that. He wasn't sure he even wanted this ability. He certainly didn't want the responsibility that came with it. On any pre spaceflight world, the powers of a Jedi would have made them a god in the eyes of a primitive people. That said, there are records of force users believing they were just that. Gods amongst men. He didn't want the chance to accept that mentality. He feared he would cave into such temptations. "I don't… I…" He began to try and say something in response, but he felt something a pull, a nudge in the direction behind him. Slick turned his head to see a bright flash of light blue out the corner of his eye, only for it to disappear.
Barriss looked in the same direction, curious as to what could break the clone from his rant. Both seeing and feeling nothing, she labelled it down to a soldiers instinct and decided to try and calm things down once again.
The one thing neither she or Slick had taken into account with their arguing were the two Trandoshans sneaking up behind them, grabbing Sev and Mustard before either could react.
"Banished!" Slick shouted as he aimed his rifle at the pair of pirates. Roger and Barriss both aimed blasters in their direction too.
"Ah ah ahhh." The largest of the two spoke first, aiming his own blaster at Mustard's head.
"What do you want?" Barriss was the first to ask.
The skinnier Trandoshan nodded towards Roger. "We came for the droid. Shot it's head off in a fight, but we needed to charge it up to get any information out of it. Imagine our surprise when we came back from a quick hunt to find the first exile to oppose Calidus in years."
"If the offer is still on the table, remind him that I haven't changed my mind." The Jedi said coldly, to which one of the Trandoshans huffed in amusement.
"You'll have plenty of opportunity to tell him yourself soon enough. You and the droid are going to come with us, otherwise we will put these clones down." The larger of the two hissed.
Slicks finger gently tightened on the trigger of his weapon, the slightest fraction of pressure placed down would trigger a blast, putting the hunters down.
But something was stopping him. The world felt silent, as if every gust of wind died in place, every animal, every natural occurrence, every breath just stopped.
"You needn't act in this moment." A calm voice of an older man echoed in his head. Slick turned and began to see a bright blue light again, this time he had the chance to focus a little longer, the light took form of a humanoid figure in what looked to be jedi robes.
"Who-" He began to ask, but was cut off from continuing a conversation as he felt something was off, something that he wasn't sure had even happened yet.
Before another word could be exchanged, everyone's attention was directed to the bright light above their heads, seen clearly through the gigantic hole in the ceiling in which the reactor for the Silver Lining had blown, illuminating the sky for a brief moment. Barriss squinted at the explosion and saw a large spherical object hurtling towards their position.
In a matter of milliseconds, she had predicted where the object would land. Using the explosion as a distraction, she reached out with both arms, channeling all of her strength in the force to pull both Mustard and Sev towards the rest of her squad, leaving several feet of distance between them and the pirates.
Before the Trandoshans could react, the object had fallen right on top of them, crushing their bodies and sending dark orange blood in every direction under the impact of an escape pod.
Amongst the blood and the confusion, four sets of feet emerged from the pod, leaving multiple trails of dark orange footprints. "Boil! That was one of the worse landings I've ever seen!" Hound shouted as he inspected the crushed Trandoshans.
"Because it's an escape pod, genius! You don't land these things, you crash them." Boil then responded in frustration.
"I just wish there was some holofilms or snacks." Dogma said casually as he looked at his surroundings before locking eyes with his brothers on the ground. "Oh, hey Slick!"
The last man to emerge from the pod was Alphard, carefully bracing himself against the side of the pod. "That might have been one of the worse escape plans ever... Of all time." He gasped as he removed his helmet to cough up a small amount of blood as he no doubt injured himself in the crash. "I'm okay."
Slick's rifle went from being aimed at the Trandoshans to now being aimed at the former imperial agent. "Start talking." He demanded. His view on Alphard suddenly began to warp, the clear sounds that had briefly returned had begun to fade into nothingness again.
As Slick collapsed to the floor, the same voice from before echoed in his head. "Rest for a moment, Clone. The force has much to ask of you."
"Who… who are you?" Slick asked. His own voice booming inside his brain, the words never escaping his body.
In the darkness of his mind, the blue light shone into vision, taking form of the robbed man he saw moments ago. Long tied back hair, a relatively long beard, but certainly no bigger than Kenobi's. This man was becoming more and more familiar to the clone. Slick recognised him from his studies on the Jedi Order back on Kamino. The man who discovered General Skywalker, the man who trained General Kenobi.
"We have much to discuss."