Dear Reader, Just having a dickens of a time getting these chapters in presentable order! You might notice that the Jesse in this part of the story still more closely resembles the Jesse from "The Deserter" - responsible, level-headed, and dutiful. Not at all like the Umbara Jesse. Enjoy, CS

Chapter 30 Options

"With a kind of wry envy, Hazel realized that Bigwig was actually looking forward to meeting the Efrafan assault. He knew he could fight and he meant to show it. He was not thinking of anything else. The hopelessness of their chances had no important place in his thoughts. Even the sound of the digging, clearer already, only set him thinking of the best way to sell his life as dearly as he could."

Watership Down
Richard Adams

Rex wiped the sweat from his brow. "I don't know how you handle this heat, day in and day out. I feel like I've sweat out every last bit of fluid in my body."

"Conditioning . . . and centuries of adaptation," Maree replied. "The Bertegadians who live in cooler regions have the same trouble with the heat and dryness that you do."

"I'd suggest a swim, but I know that wouldn't be acceptable," Rex said with an almost teasing mirth in his voice. It was his attempt at making light of that which was churning inside him; an effort of fortitude to do what he knew was right in the face of what he wanted. And yet, some part of him wanted to see what her answer would be.

"A swim hardly constitutes a sin, Rex," the Doma replied in kind, poking back at what she had not quite accepted as her companion's apparent modesty and humble discretion. She stopped walking and turned to fix him with a questioning eye. "Not even the sort of swims you and your brothers seem to enjoy when you think no one is watching." She simpered. "Surely, they have swimming suits on Kamino."

This made Rex smile. "Nothing that a man would want to wear in his leisure time. Swimming for fun was never part of the training regimen on Kamino. Going into the water always served a functional purpose, and so did the clothes." He gave a one-shouldered shrug. "Besides, my brothers and I have been in each others' company since day one. We did everything together. There was no such thing as privacy. The sleeping tube was the closest you'd ever get to having a place to yourself." A pause. "Believe me, when you're at war, stuck in some hole, you can't get wadded up about . . . modesty. You see and learn a lot more about your mates than you'd ever want to know." He brought it back up to a humorous tone. "So, uh, baring it all doesn't mean anything to us." He added wryly, "Although it depends on the company, of course."

Maree looked at him with a straight face. "All of that in response to a simple statement."

Rex was perplexed. "I thought you wanted an explanation."

"No, I was going to take you up on your suggestion," she replied.

Rex went from perplexed to stunned disbelief, and it showed on his face.

Maree laughed. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Captain. I'm not suggesting we . . . bare it all, as you so quaintly put it. I have a swimming suit. The brothers can provide you with one."

All at once, Rex felt thrilled, apprehensive, confused, and anxious.

"A swim hardly constitutes a sin, Rex."

Of course, she was right. But the thoughts that were trying to push their way to the forefront of Rex's mind . . . those might certainly be considered sinful, at least as the Doma defined it.

"She trusts you," he reminded himself forcefully. "She's not thinking the same way you are. You don't even trust yourself, and that's ridiculous. You're a stronger man than this." He took her hand in his and gave a gentle squeeze. "You're saying that to accommodate me."

"You did say you wanted to go for a swim," Maree pointed out.

"That's not what I mean," Rex said. "You're agreeing to a swim, because you want to make me happy."

"Is there something wrong with wanting to make you happy?"

It seemed an innocuous question, but Rex knew the answer was not so simple. "If you knew what was inside of me right now, you wouldn't be asking that question." He drew in a long, anticipatory breath. "I pride myself on being a man of conviction. But everyone—everything—has a breaking point. I don't want to risk finding out what that point is in this situation." A pause. "You said we'd reached an understanding on how to be with each other. Yes, I agree with that. But upholding that understanding isn't easy. I'm new at this, and . . . well, I think I've found something I'm not very good at."

Maree laughed, despite herself. "You'll forgive me for saying so, but . . . you worry too much, Rex." She held up her hand, still enclosed in his. "What do you feel when you hold my hand? I'll tell you what I feel. I feel flesh and blood, a creation—not of the Kaminoans but of a far superior mind. I feel the touch of a man with imperfections like the rest of us. Rex . . . stop trying to be perfect. " A fondness glinted in her eyes. "You don't need to try and protect me from succumbing to your many charms." She nodded at the slight color that rose in his cheeks. "If I give in to my own weaknesses, that is between me and my god. You need only be the man you have always been."

"That man has always been perfect," Rex replied cheekily. "Until now."

"Oh, there are moments when you remind me very much of Fels Au-Gehen," she scoffed lightly. "Wed to the rules, boasting about the many areas in which you excel, but never satisfied, always looking for the few places where you are weak."

"I'm hardly wed to the rules—"

"Your rules!" she cut him off. "You have ideas of how things should be, especially how things should be for you. And when those rules are violated, I imagine you are a man who overcompensates by imposing even more rules." A pause. "You said you've lost many men. I don't know how you get over those losses, considering the many rules you've set for yourself."

These words, spoken out of love and without malice, suddenly made Rex realize that Maree had been more observant than he'd given her credit for, and for a moment—however brief—his defenses dropped.

"I'm not sure I do get over them," he admitted. "I keep a certain distance from the men. It's not just because I'm their commanding officer. I just have to keep myself at arm's length or . . . or they may see that I care too much, more than I should."

Maree tightened her grip on his hand. "I think they see that already. You may think you're hiding it, but your men aren't fooled. I meant it when I said I think they'd do anything for you. The only thing that scares me is that . . . if you get too locked in your own rigid thinking—unorthodox as it might be, by your own admission—you may find yourself . . . like Au-Gehen, where there is only one way to do things, and you will be constantly on watch for violations in yourself and others."

"I'll take your words to heart," he replied simply. She had cut him to the quick, and he had no words to express how he was feeling at that moment.

"Do you still want to go for a—" Maree fell silent as Rex held up a hand.

He listened for a very few seconds.

"That's a Separatist ship again," he announced.

"I don't hear anything."

"I do, and . . . it's a Perfidio again. They've come back. And it sounds like they're moving fast."

"Now, I hear it."

Both Rex and Maree looked skyward, and no sooner had they raised their eyes than a streak of grey passed overhead at low level, heading south.

"Where's it going?" Rex wondered out loud.

"There, go up on the rocks and you'll be able to see above the trees," Maree said, and she followed him up onto the same overlook where the girls had been spying on the swimming clones.

"It's landing within the walls," Rex said, sounding calmer than he was.

"At the school!" Maree burst out. "Rex, they must know the clones are there! How could they know that?!"

"We'll worry about that later," Rex said hurriedly. "We have to get back to the Seiba Tops and get Hardcase and DB."

"What are you going to do?!"

Rex was already running. "I'm hoping something will come to me along the way!"

"No luck, Lieutenant. These door are solid and heavy, and there's no way we can break them down without weapons," Ajax reported.

Jesse gave a curt nod, then turned to Sixer who was standing beside him. "Those windows at the top are too high and too small. No signs of hidden exits or escape routes. Looks like we're trapped in here."

"But how did they know?" Sixer seethed. "We're in here wearing our armor, without our weapons, and with all these kids and teachers. This was a setup, Jesse. Even if we'd been armed, we can't put up a fight and risk these people getting hurt. Someone planned this."

"That may be true, but we can't worry about it now," Jesse stated bluntly. He watched as the teachers herded all the children into one corner of the room and then formed a cordon around them.

Sister So'Nodor and Sister Nareen had remained beside the clones from the moment the Separatists' arrival had been detected. Now, Nareen desperately approached Jesse. "We can try to protect you. The teachers can stand between you and Separatists," she offered bravely. But she was speaking from a clearly irrational viewpoint.

"I appreciate that, Sister," Jesse replied. "But that would only result in bloodshed. We're the protectors, and . . . we're going to make the decision that saves the most lives."

So'Nodor interjected. "I am afraid I must agree with the lieutenant. I wish there were another way, but our responsibility is to those children. We have to make sure they are not harmed."

Jesse turned to her. "Do your people have weapons? Can we expect them to mount a defense against the Separatists?"

So'Nodor's expression was one of remorse. "I do not know anything of weapons. We have had no call to fight for as long as I have been a sister. But I am afraid that . . . I am afraid it is unlikely the people would agree to take up arms in your defense, despite what Doma Maree might believe. Our orders are built on the foundations of peace and forgiveness. I fear no one will want to risk disturbing the peace in order to . . . to . . . save a group of . . . "

"Understood," Jesse said. He gave a curt nod, then turned and took a few steps away, motioning Sixer and Zinger to join him.

"The captain is still out there with Hardcase and DB," he said in a low voice. "I don't know what they can do against a ship load of Seppies, but we all know Rex – he'll have something in the works, and probably what we least expect. We need to buy time for him to put whatever he comes up with into motion. We know the Seppies are after the data we downloaded from those consoles. They probably don't necessarily care about recovering it – I'm sure it's stored elsewhere. But they won't want the Republic to have access to it."

"All the data pads are hidden back at the Seiba Tops," Zinger said.

"But the Seppies don't know that—"

"They might," Sixer pointed out. "If this was a setup, whoever tipped them off might have already told them where the data pads are hidden."

"Then we have to hope it takes them a long time to search the rooms," Jesse replied.

"And in the meantime?" Zinger asked.

"I don't see any choice . . ." Jesse frowned. "It's like Sixer said. We can't put up any resistance with all these civilians here. A lot of people could end up getting killed. And we have no weapons. There's not even any place in here to set up an ambush. If they take us outside, we might have a chance. We'll have to play it by the moment."

"So, we're going to surrender," Sixer said.

"Yes. At least, initially."

A low-grade explosion shook the building, sending a gale of debris rocketing in all directions from the southern wall. Through the billowing smoke, a line of super battle droids emerged, followed by a squadron of rank-and-file droids and lastly, a squad of Copian soldiers.

"Fall in behind me and stand fast. Don't do anything to provoke them," Jesse ordered. He then turned to Sisters So'Nodor and Nareen. "Sisters, go join the others. I don't know what's going to happen, but you need to step away from us. Keep the children and the other teachers together in that corner."

"What are you going to do?" So'Nodor asked, the shaking in her voice belying the fear that the violent arrival of the Separatists had ignited inside her.

"We're going to go with them," Jesse replied. "Now, please, step over—"

"But what if they're not here to take you?" Nareen pressed anxiously. "What if—what if they plan to kill you outright? We can't stand by and let that happen!"

"There's no time to argue," Jesse insisted. Please, go over there."

As the sounds of the explosion died, the children could be heard, crying and screaming.

So'Nodor took Nareen by the arm. "Come, Sister Nareen, do as the lieutenant says. The children need us."

As the two women hurried away, Jesse turned to his men once more. "Just keep an eye on me and follow my lead. Our goal is to get them to take us outside, away from the children and teachers."

"Lieutenant . . . look. That's Admiral Vrehnke," Pitch stated in a low voice.

Jesse followed Pitch's gaze. "We all know his history," he scowled. "He'll kill civilians without a second thought, so everyone . . . keep your cool."

The battle droids formed a wide circle, then the Copians formed an interior circle, their weapons trained on the clones.

Admiral Vrehnke came forward, his movements languid, almost leisurely. His translator droid followed close behind.

He stopped a few paces in front of Jesse and spoke briefly. The droid translated. "Are you in charge of these . . . men?" It was of some interest that the droid attempted to also translate the derision and distaste apparently present in the admiral's voice.

"Yes."

"Then be advised that you are now prisoners of the Copian Migrate of the Separatist alliance," the droid once again translated. "And you will turn over all data downloaded from the stolen consoles taken from Pylotta."

"What data are you talking about?"

"I have no time or desire for games, clone," the admiral said, his manner dismissive. "Our contacts on Pylotta told us everything that was loaded on your ship, and we picked up your track the moment you left the planet. Not to mention, we found the remains of your ship in the desert and were able to detect that the data had been accessed and partly copied. I mean to ensure that the information on those consoles does not make it into Republic hands."

Jesse's face was expressionless. In his head, he calculated that it made no sense to continue to deny knowledge of the consoles. Vrehnke knew the consoles had been breached, and now Jesse could only hope that whoever had betrayed them had not already told them where the data was hidden. "We already transmitted it to the fleet," Jesse lied.

"No, you did not. The only transmission that came from your ship was a distress call that had no chance of reaching even a relay beacon."

"I won't try to convince you otherwise," Jesse said evenly.

Admiral Vrehnke made a sort of laughing sound. "I don't need you to convince me of anything, clone." Whatever humor he had expressed was lost in the droid's dull translation. "I have ways of finding out anything I need to know. "

"How did you find out we were here?" Jesse asked, more in attempt to delay than out of the desire to know who had set them up.

"I have an informant," came the reply. "And the only thing he could not tell me was precisely where you've hidden the data. But he did send us coordinates of the facilities. I've already dispatched a squad of droids to go search the premises. Now, tell me: how many data pads are there?"

"I'm not answering any of your questions," Jesse replied. "None of us are."

Another muffled chuckling sound of derision. "Let me show you something." He grunted out words that the droid did not translate, apparently a command to his soldiers, for they advanced quickly towards the clones.

Fearing a reaction, Jesse raised his voice but with calm assurance. "Stand fast. Don't resist."

And even though it went against every instinct that had been bred into the clones, they knew that the actions that normally came reflexively to them were not useful in this situation. There had been no training on Kamino to deal with this sort of dilemma. Escape and evasion training, yes. Resisting torture and interrogation, yes. Surviving prisoner-of-war camps, yes.

Finding themselves prisoners, unarmed, and with the potential for mass civilian casualties . . . no.

They would have fought to the death—even without weapons—were it not for the civilians. But their presence changed everything.

The Copians produced plasma wrist cuffs and bound the clones' hands behind their backs. They were then herded towards the opening that had been blasted in the wall.

"Soldier Echo! Soldier Echo!"

A jolt went through Echo's body at the sound of Yusani's voice, crying out after him, rising shrilly above the sobs and whines of the other children. He looked over his left shoulder, catching a glimpse of her being held in the arms of one of the sisters, reaching out towards him. He felt something painful inside, and for a moment, he actually considered going to her. When his footsteps slowed, it was Fives, behind him, who nudged him along.

"Keep going," he whispered. "She'll be alright. Don't attract attention."

"Fives . . . "

"It'll be okay. Just keep walking—" Fives' voice cut off abruptly as one of the Copian jabbed him in the back with his blaster, pushing him forward and snorting incomprehensibly.

Outside, they found themselves lined up with their brothers in the shadow of a heavily-armed Perfidio-class landing craft.

The translator droid was speaking. "You see this ship. We have enough firepower blow this entire little oasis to pieces." Admiral Vrehnka stepped up face-to-face with Jessie. "You don't have to answer my questions if you don't want to. But I warn you . . . I have a very short temper. And my ship has a lot of munitions. Now tell me how many data pads there are."

Jesse replied, "It would be easier if some of us went with your troops to get them."

"That's not necessary. Just tell me how many there are." The Admiral turned and sashayed a few steps, before turning back as if a thought had suddenly occurred to him. But Jesse wasn't fooled. He knew a calculated move when he saw one.

"Ah, and where is your captain?"

"Our captain died in the crash."

"Truly, clone, one more lie, and I may be forced to kill you as you stand." A pause. "My informer tells me that the General Skywalker's clone captain is here. Every Separatist commander knows that braggart Skywalker and his equally flamboyant captain, CT-7567. For a clone, he has a distinct look, and I have not seen that look here. Where is he?"

Jesse was silent.

The admiral went on. "I've already eliminated General Kenobi's clone commander." He caught the slight shift in stance and composure this announcement wrought in several of the clones, and he played it to his advantage. "We ran into him and his companions in the desert. They put up a bit of a fight, but how could they possibly have hoped to prevail? At least, they went down with some semblance of dignity . . . unlike all of you." He walked up and down the line of clones, as if he were a reviewing officer conducting an inspection. "Once I have what I want here, you will garner me a fine personal profit as slaves." He paused to let those words sink in. "I have many customers who are more than willing to pay good credits for such fine stock. After all . . . you creatures are strong and of good constitution. And you're bred to be adaptable. The universe could not provide a better slave template!" A chuckle. "And you are already slaves to the Republic. Only your . . . ownership would change."

He paused, overcome by his own brilliant oratory. "Ah, but I get ahead of myself. I ask you once again, where is CT-7567? He will make fine extortion collateral. Or an impressive addition to my kill list."

But if Vrehnka thought he would get a swift answer to his question, he was met with silence.

"Ah, bumf-bumf-bumf . . . why must you make this difficult? Your refusal necessitates that I take unpleasant measures to obtain what I want." He swept his arm out with a dramatic flare. "Are you all prepared to live with that?" He stepped up to the nearest clone, who happened to be Sempe. "Are you prepared to live with that?"

"Captain! What's going on? We saw the Separatist landing craft—" Hardcase began, but Rex cut him off.

"Get all the data pads out of the rooms and give them to Nova Merika," he ordered. "Make it fast."

He had been going through possible scenarios and options the entire way to the Seiba Tops. Passing by the Doma's residence, they had picked up Nova Merika and dispatched another one of the servants to find Au-Mikiel and bring him to the Seiba Tops.

Fear for his brothers aside, Rex knew that his number one priority was twofold: secure the information on the data pads and protect the citizens of the Monastica. He had no doubt that the Separatists' primary objective in pursuing the clones was to retrieve the stolen data, and so he had placed its safeguarding as foremost. While his men had kept the data fairly hidden inside their rooms, Rex was under no illusion that a determined search would not uncover the devices; and so, giving them to Nova Merika, who had the entirety of the Monastica—its structures and grounds, including the caverns—from which to choose seemed like the best option.

That task now in progress, he turned to the second part of the priority.

"Can you get all your people underground?" he asked Maree. He began going from room-to-room, checking for functional weapons.

"What are you planning?" she asked, following on his heels and taking the weapons as he handed them to her.

"Surrender," he said bluntly, dashing out one door to go to the next.

"Surrender?!"

"We have no choice," he said, checking the charge load on March's weapon. He knew it was March's by the etched name of a fallen squad-mate, Barbaro, on the barrel. "If this is the same admiral, he's known for the mass murder of civilians. If we put up any kind of fight, this entire place will be laid waste."

"But—if he knows you have the data, and you don't give it to him, might he not kill us all anyways?" she asked.

Rex stopped what he was doing long enough to give her a grave stare. "He might."

"Then let us choose to make that sacrifice—"

Rex scowled. "Don't be foolish," he chastised, resuming his search from room to room. "You need to hide as many of your people as possible. Take them down into the caverns—"

"What will happen if you turn the data over to them?" Maree pressed.

"I don't know," Rex replied. "He might leave without any trouble."

"But he would never agree to leave you and your brothers here-"

"This isn't about me and my brothers," Rex said. "We have a mission, and we're prepared to die for—"

"Let me try talking to him again," the Doma insisted.

"No, no, that's out of the question." He handed her another blaster. "He won't forget that you deceived him."

"If we are all to die anyway, then let me do my part," Maree said. "Let me at least stall to give you more time to—to come up with a better plan than surrendering."

When he ignored her, she set the weapons down and reached out for his arm. "Captain Rex!"

He stopped and faced her; and for reasons he could not quite comprehend, her expression slowed him down, drew him back for a moment.

She spoke slowly, quietly. "I know you must have other courses of action. Don't be worried on our account." She appeared to need a moment to find the right words and the resolve to say what was coming next. "We are a religious people, Rex. And we value peace. But we are not pacifists. When put to it . . . we will fight."

"The Doma is right." This was Au-Mikiel's voice. He had entered the room behind them. "This attack is not just on you and your men, Captain. It is an attack on our home, our sanctuary. We claim the right to defend what the Creator has given us."

"But you're not warriors," Rex protested, almost as a lamentation. "And even if you did know how to fight, there are only a dozen operational blasters here—"

"We have weapons of our own, Captain," Au-Mikiel replied. "And we are far from inexperienced. The forces of darkness have their legions in every age, in every corner of the galaxy. We have done battle before."

Rex was not sure what to make of his words. Was he speaking of actual physical battle with enemies that could be seen and touched? Or was he speaking of some kind of spiritual battle? And what kind of weapons was he referring to? Rex had seen nothing that resembled a weapon of any sort since arriving at the Monastica.

Regardless, the fact was clear that the Verviens and the Austeniens had no intention of being bystanders in the face of the Separatists' arrival. Whatever was to come, they were determined to be a part of it.

"There is another possibility," Rex conceded. "And it depends on a lot of different factors."

"Go on."

"If it is Admiral Vrehnka, then we can use that to our advantage," Rex began thoughtfully. "How many men can you give me?"

"Every fit man and woman within these walls," Au-Mikiel replied.

"With weapons?"

The First Servant nodded.

"The one thing about Admiral Vrehnke is that he commands with an iron fist," Rex explained. "His commanders may be ruthless, but without him to lead them, they descend into chaos. If we can pick off Vrehnke, we'll have a small window in which to take down the other Copians. Then we can tackle the battle droids." A pause. "This all depends on the size of the detail he brought with him." He looked at Au-Mikiel. "And the good aim of your people. Right now, I need maybe two dozen armed men to go with me and recon the situation. Once we see how things are, I'll know better how to proceed."

Au-Mikiel nodded. "I will send Au-Ogusta at once. He's waiting outside. Where shall I tell them to meet us?"

Rex deferred. "Where's a good place?"

"The Healing Obelisk," Mikiel replied. "It is on the way and under good tree cover. I do not imagine they will see us there."

"I have no idea where that is," Rex admitted.

"I will be with you. I will take you. Let me go send Ogusta to bring back the men."

As he left, Hardcase and Double Barrel entered.

"We gave all the data pads to Nova Merika, Captain," Double Barrel stated.

"Good, good," Rex nodded. "DB, is your long gun working?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Then I want you to take a position up on top of the Taber. You should be able to scope the assembly hall and the Separatist ship from there."

DB grinned wickedly. "Who am I sniping?"

"With any luck, Admiral Vrehnka," Rex replied.

"How will I know when you want me to take the shot?"

"You'll see us closing in and forming a perimeter. Any time after you see us in place, take the first clear shot. But make sure you wait until you see us. If we're too far away, we won't be able to take advantage of it," Rex told him.

"Yes, Sir."

Rex next turned to Hardcase. "Hardcase, you're with me. We're going to have to formulate a plan of attack, and we have only a matter of minutes to do it. Plus, we're going to have to show the Austeniens how to take down a battle droid."

"I can hardly wait, Sir."

Now came the hard part. He looked to Maree; and the very thing that he had, only moments ago, lambasted as out-of-the-question, he now put back on the table.

"Doma," he began, reverting back to her title in the presence of his men. "I am going to need you to stall him. Whatever you can do to buy us . . . five minutes, ten minutes."

Maree nodded. "I'll find a way."

Rex resisted the urge to touch her. "Remember what I said. He's a vicious killer. Be careful."

"I will," she replied.

"And just . . . stay alert," he warned. "I'm not sure how this thing is going to come off."

"I'll be ready."

An unfamiliar face peered into the room. It was one of the ni-Doma, recruited by Au-Mikiel on his way to the Seiba Tops. The young woman had been keeping an eye open outside the Seiba Tops.

"Doma Maree! There are battle droids coming through the woods!"