Infiltrated Part 2
There were still a few looks sent her way, and even from a distance. She stood out among all the tall men standing around in armour; she wore more than white or black for starters. She found herself interested in more than just the training rooms, walking with Jango through the facility until he got a call on his commlink. He stepped away for a while leaving her to continue alone.
There was one of the mess halls ahead. Zaiya suspected Tipoca City was not created as a military base, so the open ceiling with interconnected transparisteel walkways were not so odd. The white doors opened and she found herself among many different troopers, mostly in fabric cadet apparel, some still had their armour on. Her gait was slower as she watched the clones around her, and they were watching her. Though, perhaps outright staring would have been a more accurate term. The men's heads turned in her direction and she heard whispering begin. Hm, perhaps the mess hall was not the best location for her to explore just yet.
"What are you doing?" Zaiya paused in her step and looked to the sound of the voice, her tattooed lips parted in a smile.
"Hello Alpha."
"Hi. What are you doing?" he repeated, clearly irritated.
"Looking around," she replied lightly with a tilt of her head.
"This isn't some experiment or art gallery," he snapped back.
"They taught you what an art gallery was?" Zaiya asked, though he didn't seem to appreciate the diversion from the topic at hand.
"They are all staring at you."
"Oh I know," she grinned like a tooka that caught the nuna and the big man jerked his head slightly toward the other clones.
"Is that why you're here? To get some attention?" Her eyes narrowed at him, he seemed angry though she wasn't sure if it was her he was actually angry at.
"Did you come just to make me feel welcome?" she asked, his frown deepened. "I appreciate that, Alpha, very sweet of you." His lip curled this time and she leaned forward. "What's that? You'll eat with me? Oh, aren't you such a gentleman!" With a roll of his dark eyes and a scoff in the back of his throat, he turned away. Zaiya let out a laugh that seemed to catch the attention of a few clones nearby. She liked him, he didn't react much but it was amusing all the same. He seemed to find her not worth the effort and returned to his own task. She turned away from his retreating back and was about to head out again when she heard-
"Are you coming or what?" She turned back to see Alpha looking at her expectantly. Well now. She hadn't thought he'd take it seriously. She chuckled to herself and stepped over. Zaiya slid into the seat opposite Alpha and smiled widely. He gestured to his brothers beside him. "This is Jax and Colt," he gestured to the two clones beside him and she nodded in greeting.
"Siren," Zaiya smiled before looking back at Alpha, "and here I thought you were running away," she said with a laugh.
"I don't run, especially not from some little bog witch." Zaiya raised a brow at him, "Oh right, fen witch." She just nodded in approval at his correction. He began to eat, rather quickly she noticed and looked away out of consideration. She also just wasn't a fan of watching people eat.
"That's the best you can come up with?" she raised a brow at him with mild amusement. "Scary Captain Alpha Commando and you want to trade petty insults?"
"Or you could eat," he shrugged. Jax chuckled and leaned in to listen.
"Mm, perhaps, though I would have to check what it's made of."
"Not suitable to your palate, Princess?" Alpha snorted.
"Carnivore," she replied, curling a lip and pointing to her fanged teeth.
"I thought Fett said you were at least half Mandalorian, so that's half human, right?"
"Look at you, paying attention…!" she praised with a little laugh. "Though I'm limited to what I can eat."
"Like rancors."
"Like rancors," she confirmed with a nod. After a beat she smiled, she could feel it, they were gagging to ask her. The first question came from one of his brothers, listening in.
"So why are you here?" Colt asked.
"You mean on Kamino?"
"Yeah, why did you choose to work here of all places?" he clarified.
"Well," She rested her chin on her hand for a moment in thought, "Jango is an old friend… and… well I needed the work." She didn't really want to lie to him, though she couldn't tell him the truth, "I have my reasons."
"Uh-huh." Jax looked her over and after a beat asked the question she had been expecting first. "What's with the eye?" She chuckled and leaned back in her seat.
"There was a really, really aggressive tooka-"
"Are you going to answer any of our questions properly?"
"There are some things I can't answer, some things I can," she replied with a sigh.
"So which half was Mandalorian?" Colt interrupted.
"My father,"
"So your mother is-"
"A Nightsister, yes," she gestured to her face and tattoos.
"How did that happen?"
"I'm… still figuring that out." It was odd to answer so many questions and she wondered why she felt so willing to tell them so much. There was an odd sense of comfort around them.
"If you're a zabrak…" Alpha started, gesturing his fork at her, "where are your horns?"
"Nightsisters are a little different, when we are born they are the same as most Zabrak of Dathomir, brightly coloured, no tattoos and little nubs where the horns grow into." She gestured to her pale skin and tattoos on her face, "when we reach around a year or so, we undergo a sort of ritual. For the males they have dark tattoos all over them, predominantly around the neck, back and hands, the females of our clan have more drastic changes." She sat back and gestured to herself in a sort of illustrative point. "Our skin is paled, and hair too, our horns are removed and our tattoos are less predominant but also extensive." Colt made a face, he almost looked horrified.
"Are you serious?"
"What, that's worse than being genetically modified and grown in a vat to be cannon fodder? Cos that sounds worse to me," Zaiya retorted and his mouth shut quickly.
"That's… fair…" Though he didn't seem convinced.
"You said extensive tattoos…" Jax continued with the line of questioning, "you have more than the ones on your face?"
"Yes I do," she nodded.
"Can I… uh…?" he gestured to her and looked confused at her sudden shocked expression. Though it was only for show.
"Oh my- Trooper… you want me to…? Here…? In front of everyone? How scandalous!" she teased and the clone seemed to realise what he'd implied and his eyes widened and his fork clattered onto his tray.
"That-that's not what I meant!" he stuttered, "I just… I didn't mean-!" his face darkened only the slightest but he was clearly flustered and embarrassed.
"Weeell, I suppose I can't blame you… how many women have you met outside the Kaminoans?" He seemed to get even more flustered at that, "I wouldn't suggest asking anyone else though, they might not take it so well." She rested her chin on her hand, a look of amusement on her face.
"Wow, Jax, what a go-getter," Colt sniggered, Alpha was nearly done with his meal, and was mostly unmoved, but Zaiya was sure that she saw him smirk ever so slightly.
"That's not what I meant!" Jax insisted again, smacking his hand on the durasteel table. Zaiya let out a soft laugh and stood.
"Of course," she replied unconvincingly, "but if you will excuse me, gentlemen, I will get ready for the next training session." She felt eyes on her but didn't let it affect her, "I look forward to our next encounter." She turned only to find a cadet, or rather, two cadet's in her path, staring at her. Both were shorter than the others, clearly not at the full stage of their growth cycle, and while they looked the same, their demeanours were different. One looked at her with big wide eyes and the other seemed nervous. She looked them over for a moment and after they didn't say anything, her head tilted.
"Is there a reason you're looking at me like that, cadet?" she asked the one with large eyes. He had a giddiness about him, like he was about to start vibrating on the spot. He jolted as she addressed him and his comrade stepped back slightly, like he hoped not to be noticed by her.
"I-I… uhm…" the cadet stared at her some more, "You're… you're really pretty…" he said it like he wasn't even conscious of what was coming out of his mouth. A second later he seemed startled when the Nightsister was laughing, she had to brace herself against the table while she recovered. She looked back at the commandos with a bright smile, the comment had her so distracted, she didn't notice the way hall had become a little quieter, a musical laugh like hers was not a common sound on Kamino.
"Jax, I think you have competition…!"
"I think that one's defective…" Alpha grumbled and Zaiya laughed again.
"Oh he has jokes now," she grinned and looked back at the cadet, "What's your name?"
"Oh… I don't have one, I'm CT-9415 and this is CT-5678 Sir, uh, I mean, ma'am," he looked just as flustered as Jax had a minute ago.
"Well CT-9415, aren't you a sweetheart…?" She could almost feel Alpha rolling his eyes, "but you have somewhere to be, do you not?" she raised a brow and tilted her head again.
"I- uh, yes ma'am," he nodded.
"Off you go then," she gave a gentle 'shoo' gesture with her hand and watched him be pushed away by his brother until they left the mess hall completely. Zaiya let out a chuckle, "oh, that's so cute."
"You shouldn't encourage them," Alpha snapped, standing from where he had been seated, "besides, it's only because you're the only female he will have seen other than the long necks."
"Yes, I know, Captain," she nodded and looked at him, "I might only have one eye but I'm not blind, I know what I look like." She shrugged and he frowned. She'd already been delayed enough and had to return to meet Jango for a debrief before the next training session; she had plenty to learn before she could implement her own 'lessons'. With another nod in acknowledgement she departed the table, something in her presence making the troopers step aside as she walked through. She had a bit to get used to, but if the comments were going to be along the same vein, she wouldn't mind so much, she'd been called worse before.
As it turned out, there was a little more time before the next session and she was eager to return to the other labs where the most important part of her time here was. Nala Se's lab was not set up for her to have a private quarters, and she had been designated a small apartment-like room on the far side of Tipoca city. It didn't mean she was going to spend all her time there though, she had far more pressing matters here. The door to the lab opened and she was greeted with the same clinical tables and pods as before, though it was in the secondary lab where her hearts jolted.
There he was. Tubes connected to his organic body, a breathing apparatus over his nose and mouth in the bacta tank, and… his lower half completely gone. Tears prickled her eyes to see his torso floating in the tank, eyes closed as if he were sleeping… It was hard to see him like this.
"This is indeed a fine specimen," spoke Nala Se, appearing from a doorway on the far side of the room. Zaiya's fists clenched at the way the Kaminoan spoke of the Prince.
"He is very strong," the Nightsister replied.
"His vitals are strong, if he survived so long as you say… then the chances of the procedure failing, or a loss of life are significantly lower," Nala Se said in that eerie calm tone. It was alarming, to think she could even suspect Maul of dying was- she didn't even finish her thought before an ache grew in her chest and for a few moments she couldn't breathe. There was a ripple of power from the tank and her head snapped up, distracting her thoughts and from the feeling.
"He is conscious?" she asked.
"Not fully, he is vaguely aware of what is happening, but in a mostly a sleep state, any sounds and lights are muffled." The scientist paused, "though I have no knowledge of this… Force you mentioned. Spirituality has never been seen as overly important in my research." It was said rather dismissively, she had no care for the Force but Zaiya understood, he was in a meditative state, he could feel her.
"I would like to be alone if you please," Zaiya said quietly, her eyes remaining on Maul. The Kaminoan looked at her with the same blank expression.
"Suit yourself," she replied before turning and gliding away. It was when she heard the soft 'whoosh' of the door closing that she let out the soft breath she hadn't realised she was holding. The Nightsister stepped closer and reached out, laying a hand upon the transparisteel of the external wall of the bacta tank. She felt a ripple from within and closed her eyes, reaching out through the Force, feeling his consciousness, his mind, while he rested.
There was turmoil, a fight faded into view, a young Maul using more simple weapons to fight the D9 droid. It was Mustafar again. She had seen so much suffering here, so much misery, so much pain… yet there was always more. Maul was defending with a metal staff, working diligently and effectively, blocking each strike as it came but when one of the doors slid open, the tiny sound was enough to throw him off and suddenly he was making mistake after mistake… a few minutes later and he was knocked to the ground. The boy scrambled to his feet and grunted in anger, he held out his hand and the staff flung itself back to him, in his anger, one of the arms on the droid was damaged as he slammed the staff against the droid's arm, severing it as the Force ripped through the air unseen, metal tearing and flying everywhere. There was a laugh from the viewing platform, Darth Sidious' twisted grin could only just be seen under the dark hood.
"Yes, my apprentice… use your anger to increase your power…!" Zaiya felt sick just hearing him speak, and it was only a memory. Her own anger and hatred burned in her chest as she glared at the memory. As she did… his hooded head turned, and he looked right at her. The Nightsister was started and stepped back, though another crash took her attention to see the boy tearing through another of the droid's limbs. She glanced up, Sidious was looking at Maul. Perhaps she imagined it? Or was it a coincidence? Perhaps her own fears were altering the memory.
"Enough," called the robed man and Maul stopped in his tracks. He looked up to his master and made his way up the set of stairs to the platform to his master's side. There was a strange foreboding as Sidious began to speak and as he raised a hand, Maul flinched away. There was silence. Sidious paused mid-sentence and stared at the boy.
Suddenly the scene began to fade and the surroundings changed. She now stood in the room she recognised as the tiny space Maul used as his private quarters. It was more like a storage cupboard, she was sure even the Jedi had better accommodations than this. She herself had more room in Hondo's ship! There was a hissing and she noticed Maul's eyes open, not quite yellow but not the same blue she remembered. There was a sense of fear in the room, and the small boy she realised was trembling ever so slightly. Something moved just behind her left shoulder and she turned. And froze in place. Even though it was a memory, she recognised the large disgusting bug-creature. It had multiple names but she knew it as a Volopede… a long cable like body with intersecting plates and something like a hundred legs. Spines along its back and feelers as the head as well at twitching mandibles over a beak-like mouth. It was fast, tricky and incredibly venomous, there were two whip-like protrusions at the 'tail' end that had enough paralysing agent to incapacitate a fully grown wookie. And this one was crawling past her, along the wall, toward the boy in the bed. She could see him staring at it in fear. The eerie chittering sound began to grow and she realised that it was far too loud. Suddenly there was something in the dark a bare inch from her face and she gasped, stepping back in alarm. It was another Volopede, having slid down from the ceiling on a web-like thread, much as a spider might. She shuddered in disgust but then noticed the floor moving, Winged Goddess' feathered backside! There were more of them! She noticed Maul reaching for what looked like a knife, under his pillow, readying to fight these things and she felt sick once more.
The tension built, she could feel her skin crawling as she was forced to watch him suddenly jerk the blade up and into the head of one of these things that was crawling across the wall towards where he lay. The sudden movement threw everything into chaos and Maul was suddenly on his feet slashing at the huge bugs that screeched in high-pitched tones, it was ear piercing and had the boy stumble as he stabbed at the bug charging him across the bed. Greenish-black blood and goo and viscera splattered his bedding as the thing writhed and spasmed violently. He only just pulled his hand away in time to avoid the stinging tendrils at the tail from making contact with his bare arm. He hacked and slashed at the things, the scent of blood sent the creatures into a hissing frenzy. They whipped their tails wildly and luckily for Maul, one whipped another and several of the vicious things turned on each other in a nasty fight, trying to literally eat each other alive. Two more headed for Maul and he tossed the knife to his other hand, throwing it directly into the head of the closest Volopede and diving aside to avoid the lunge of the second. His little hands snatched up the knife as he darted past, moving only just quick enough against these swarming insects. If he faltered for even a second, he was dead.
Maul slashed, stabbed and hacked his way through the bugs, using his knife, his speed and even the Force as his weapons. He did not go completely unscathed however, one of the tendrils flicking across his thigh, though just barely. It was a blur and he was stabbing it over and over and over and over. The last one turned into mince by the time the door hissed open.
There stood Sidious with a nakesame insidious smirk on what she could see of his pasty face. Maul looked up. Wide-eyed and shaking. The human looked over the little red zabrak covered in scrapes, bruises, cuts and the blood of the Volopedes and sneered.
"Do not flinch again."
Notes:
HAPPY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!
In case you haven't already seen, I have posted the One Year special on my page, it is a separate story to this one, so head to my profile and look for the one titled "Punishment". It's Explicit so please be advised of that.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was a much different feel to the other fic haha. This one ended on a bit of a sad note but it's at least in the past.
I am very excited, one year! Wow! My life is very different but I am still enthusiastic about this story and I want to keep writing it and the other ones I have in the works.
As for next week, the chapter will be titled 'Bide' as in biding one's time. We will se some more clone shenanigans and check in with the Bad Batch, how are they doing I wonder? There are a lot of clones and so little time!
As always, I would love your feedback, comments, likes etc both of this and the one shot I wrote. I like to know what you guys think. Did you like it? Do you want more like that or maybe a different type of one shot in the future? Let me know!
Until next week!
Stay safe, be well! 3
