Amends - Part 2

"So… where did the name Siren come from?" Jax asked, most of them were sitting around the bunks and she was on a chair, her legs folded beneath her, and Cody had been kind enough to hand her a cushion to sit on.

"Well… let's see, in the simplest terms, I suppose, I sing,"

"Sing? That's it?" Wolffe asked with a frown.

"In basic terms, more specifically I have a penchant for music, I can hear it everywhere, even all of you sound vastly different to me," they didn't seem to understand so she tried it another way. "You know the feelings different songs give you? How some are soft and sweet while others are intense and powerful?" Again they seemed vague. "Alright, well what songs do you sing? Marching songs or something?"

"We don't really know any," Cody shrugged. Her head whipped to him in alarm.

"You don't-?! I would have thought the Kaminoans would have at least granted you access to the holo net or something-" she cut off in a sigh, "That's it, you've done it now, I'm teaching you some of the ones I know," she said with utter determination, sounding utterly offended. The men muttered to themselves, most of them not understanding why she seemed so bothered by it. She pointed past Fox to something beside him. "Pass me your… your uhm…" she snapped her fingers together a few times, the word in basic she wanted having escaped her, "...the waposta- Ugh a few drinks of that swill and I am forgetting Basic… the sun bonnet!"

"His bucket?" Cody supplied with a barely contained laugh. Fox picked it up and held it out to her.

"My helmet?"

"Yes! Helmet! That's it!" she grinned, then looked at Cody, "what did you call it, a bucket?"

"Yeah, it's like, slang, I guess," Cody shrugged and Zaiya's eyes lit up.

"I like this term, what other slang do you use?" she asked with interest. They seemed to find this very amusing, and while she had spoken Basic for most of her life, it was not her native tongue, having learned the Nightsister tongue, a version of Paecian, first. She took the helmet, momentarily distracted from why she wanted it.

"Sun bonnet!" Thire was giggling to himself and had his hands on either side of his face. "That's hilarious!" Zaiya chuckled and looked at him.

"You can keep that one, then," she laughed.

"Blacks," Rex muttered quietly and she looked up in confusion, he seemed flustered to have attention on him and clarified. "The uh, the under suit under our armour,"

"Because it's black in colour?" she asked, "huh… so simple, that makes sense, I wear something similar though I refer to such garments as skivvies." she explained, touching the collar of her shirt despite not currently wearing one. They seemed to like her explanation and started to think of more terms. Clankers was the term for the battle droids and seppies were what they called a separatist operative. Zaiya was finding it all very entertaining, it would make understanding them much easier! A batcher was akin to a sibling as clones were grown in batches, it made sense. They taught her a few others as they thought of them and Zaiya was enjoying herself immensely.

"I didn't think natborns took an interest in clones," Alpha mused, leaning against what Zaiya now knew was referred to as a 'rack'.

"Natborns? You mean a naturally born being?" she asked, learning yet another term.

"Yeah," he nodded. She let out a soft chuckle.

"Well you might be surprised, you haven't met too many, but there will be many that do," she replied.

"So, what did you want the… sun bonnet for?" Thire chuckled again, seemingly finding the term very funny.

"Oh, yes…" It drew her attention back to the task at hand and she tapped the top of it a few times. Hm. It didn't sound quite right. She didn't want to, but the gloves tampered with the percussion so she would have to take them off for now. She used her teeth to bite the middle finger of one glove as she slid it off, then the other, laying them beside her. As she anticipated, their eyes were drawn to her now bare and tattooed hands.

"Wow you do have them everywhere," Jax muttered, she gave a thin-lipped smile, she was a little uncomfortable, but the sharp tap on the 'bucket' sounded much better now. She began to drum out a simple beat, letting one of the songs she knew come to her. The clones listened as the first note came from her mouth. The atmosphere became lighter at once as she picked one of the songs Hondo's crew had taught her. …one of the less rude ones for now. It was about traversing the stars in a ship, waiting to return home to one waiting for them.

"And if I will fly to deep hyperspace,

Wait for me, oh wait for me,

Not long left, til I see your face,

Oh wait for me, my darlin'!

The loot's all there and credits paid,

Wait for me, oh wait for me,

I'll buy shimmersilk for the bed you laid,

Oh wait for me, my darlin!

Wait for me my sweetheart, to tell you where I've been,

The fastest ships and adventures in the ol' Outer Rim,

Wait for me a little more, I'll be home soon I swear,

With fame and spoils and no more toils, to run my fingers through your hair." They seemed to like that one and the Nightsister noted a few feet tapping alongside her drumming. When that song ended she chose another, one they quickly learned to sing along with. They started to get quite into it, it seemed and she spent a while teaching them the words, noticing Jax writing the lyrics out to share. It was more fun than she'd had in… maybe years and it was in a short break where the boys took a few more drinks that she was able to reflect. She was glad they liked the songs at least, but no doubt they'd find new ones once they were deployed.

That thought was the one that reminded her, and her gaze became softer as she glanced out the window.

"What's that?" Alpha asked, nudging her with his large shoulder.

"What's what?" she asked, turning to look back at him.

"You get that look when you think too hard about something," he smirked, "so what is it this time?"

"Time," she replied and sighed, shifting to lean on one of the bed frames to look up at him, "and that I am running out, most of these boys are deploying soon." She gestured to the group around her. Alpha scoffed at her.

"You goin' soft on us?" he asked, his smirk widening.

"Like a Wookie's pelt," she replied without missing a beat.

"Aww you're gonna miss us!" Colt grinned from where he sat beside her and reached up to hug her round the middle, his head pressing against her belt. She stiffened in surprise, her now re-gloved hands hovered in the air over him for a good minute as she stared down at the drunken clone.

"How many have you had?" she asked, making a face. One of her hands lowered to rest on his head and petted his curls gently, Colt hummed pleasantly.

"Not enough," he grumbled.

"Too many, keep your hands to yourself, Colt," Alpha growled. Colt looked ready to pout as he sat back and Zaiya had to stifle a laugh behind her hand.

"I've had an idea," she murmured and Fox looked over from one of the chairs a few feet away.

"That always spells trouble for us," he laughed. A smile crept onto her tattooed lips and she decided she would go through with her idea.

"Perhaps it will, but I need to fetch something, wait here and I'll be back in a minute," she told him, and left the barracks to return to her own. She hadn't brought much with her from Dathomir, though there were a few things. She took one of them, a small box, before heading back to the barracks.

The men were gathered around Cody, talking to him and shouting, while Cody seemed to have something in his mouth. What were they doing?

"That's a minute," Havoc said, looking at his chrono and the others groaned while Cody looked triumphant and spat some kind of liquid into a bucket - an actual bucket this time and looked back with a grin. He then spotted Zaiya and once again she gained the attention of the room.

"What have you got there ma'a- oh, uh, Lieutenant-General?" Ponds asked, leaning in as she placed it on the table. She took a seat and the soldiers before her followed suit.

"Before that, is this," she reached up to the lower of her two braids on her right hand side, she ran her hand over the beads, wire and feathers the Nightbrothers had given her. "This is called a memory strand. Nightsisters have some rituals and specific rules with their hair. Whether it be styles or who can touch it…" She glanced down for a moment before continuing, "in this case, we weave small trinkets into our hair, each trinket represents a specific person, so while people come and go, there are memories of them with me…" she trained off, thinking of Savage and Feral especially. Perhaps the drink was stronger than she'd thought? "Since many of you will be deploying soon, I thought it only fitting…" She reached and opened the little box, compartmentalised with various beads, wire, tiny rings and the like. The same items she presented to the Nightbrothers. The clones peered in, curious.

"You mean… you want us to…?" Wolffe asked softly, a serious expression on his face.

"Can we pick anything?" Havoc interrupted. Zaiya nodded,

"From the box, yes, if you wish to choose something else, that's also fine, so long as it is within reason, so long as it is smaller than a fingernail and light, then I can weave it in," she replied. Suddenly Colt was hugging her again and her eyes widened in alarm.

"You want to remember us?!" …wait, was he crying? He'd definitely had too many.

"Of course… Co-Colt put me down please," she tried to reason with him but he was very emotional. Once more it was Alpha that peeled him off. Zaiya didn't understand why he was so worked up about it. The hugs were not totally unwelcome but… she hadn't been prepared for it.

They took their time, and after a little while she had amassed another group of objects to weave in, though not everyone had chosen one. She wasn't about to force them, of course, if Wolffe and Alpha didn't deem it necessary, then she would not ask again. They seemed to be thinking about something though. Havoc hadn't chosen but he said he wanted to think about it for a while as he thought he might have something in his own barracks. That was rather sweet, she mused, considering she was sure he didn't like her very much.

"One last drink, then boys, we have training early tomorrow," Alpha stood, ever the mother nuna. She smiled, tucking away the chosen items into a small cloth pouch so she didn't forget which was which. One last shot for each of them was passed around and Zaiya looked to Alpha as he held up his glass in a toast.

"What are we drinking to, Captain?" she asked with an amused glance.

"Well you were promoted, weren't you? We haven't drunk to that at all yet,"

"I figured you didn't want me getting a big head over it." A small chuckle went around the group.

"True… but just this once. From here out… you are Ver'alor." Zaiya's eyes widened and her smile faded into a look of surprise. Her chest suddenly felt very tight.

"Ver'alor!" cheered the rest of her ARC troopers. They all drank and almost in unison winced from the taste. Her eyes suddenly felt watery.

"You're not gonna start crying on us, are you?" she thanked the Winged Goddess silently for Havoc as he nudged her slightly with his elbow.

"Not on your life, Havoc," she scoffed and blinked twice. No need to be foolish. She cleared her throat and gestured with her glass. "Ver'alor," she whispered, the word now a vow in the back of her mind. The alcohol burned down her throat once more, but she couldn't help but smile this time. It had never tasted so sweet.


Once more the lights in Zaiya's small apartment-like room were dimmed. She sat in the semi-dark trying to focus. Many of the residents of Tipoca City slept but the Nightsister was awake, though dressed very casually for her meditation. It had been some time since the little 'party' and the clone commanders and captains had been shipped out some weeks before. Kamino was now emptier than it had ever been, and news of heavy losses in one of the more recent battles weighed on her mind.

True she knew better than to let it get to her, to distract her… but even that thought sat wrong. Talzin taught her to think of the clan's needs first. Adaji, Bane and Hondo taught her to think of herself. On Zygerria she had to think only of her master. And Maul. Maul of course taught her to tune out distractions, focus on suffering, turn pain into strength and let rage fuel her. Rage was exhausting. True she had much to be angry about, and she was angry. Furious even. With the Nightsisters, with her mother and father, with Mother Talzin, with the Zygerrians, with the Jedi, and the Kaminoans, with Sidious and the Sith, with the galaxy at large. And with herself. So much rage. To feel it was exhausting. To channel it to fight even more so. Hence the desire for meditation.

The Jedi Shaak Ti always seemed so relaxed. Zaiya had taken tea with her the day before, their rooms were rather similar in design and size though Zaiya had made herself at home in her own quarters, having unpacked the few things she had brought with her and made the place less glaringly white. It was much more soothing for the Nightsister once she'd finished. The Jedi's quarters by comparison were left plain and minimal, barely anything personal in the room. The two women sat rather calmly, sipping the herbal tea the Jedi had supplied. It was rather light compared to the more heavy-bodied tea Zaiya was more accustomed to, but she quite liked the taste of it. They spoke of the clones' progress, and Shaak Ti was not as subtle as she might have tried to be when questioning Zaiya's beliefs. Zaiya of course was careful to not reveal too much, such as her disdain for the Jedi or about her past or clan… She didn't want to tell this Jedi anything really, though she knew that a Master Jedi on the Council would know better than to just believe what Zaiya told her on face value. It was like mental chess, and Zaiya was once more left exhausted from such an interaction, though seeing how calm and elegant the red-skinned togruta always was, Zaiya had to wonder whether there was some benefit to the Jedi training after all.

Still, she had to wonder whether she had it wrong. Back in her room she had begun processing her own feelings. She didn't know how the Jedi did it but stuffing down her emotions didn't seem to be something she would be able to do. She felt too much and too deeply. The emotion she felt was too strong to be pushed aside, and the most prevalent one that weighed on her heart was dread. It had happened too many times now for her to ignore and the feeling was stronger than ever. After some time digesting her own emotions and feelings, she came to a realisation and decided not to ignore her gut this time.

Zaiya opened her eyes and stood, reaching for her comlink and strapping it to her arm. She tapped in the command and waited for a response.

[Yes, Lieutenant-General?] came the familiar gruff tone of her ARC Captain. He didn't sound groggy, but she suspected she had woken him.

"I need you to suit up, Captain, gather your team together, I want the facility on alert,"

[What's going on?] his voice was immediately on edge in response to her tone.

"Just hurry," she replied and ended the call. She wasn't dressed, and her long white hair was loose from the refresher, hanging in curls down her back to her waist. She wasn't even properly dressed, only in a red halter-style top, cropped and sleeveless. Her pants were loose with slits on the sides all the way from the elastic ankle hem to the hip, the tattoos on her arms, back, feet and outer thighs were completely visible. She didn't have time to waste getting dressed, not even to put on her shoes. She just grabbed her weapons and strapped them on, rushing out to see with her own eyes, heading for the security offices.


"I need a full level four scan of the City…!" Zaiya cried as she stormed through the door. The Clones manning the office almost jumped out of their skins at her interruption, "I want you to run the protocol for a soft lockdown…!" Her bare feet padded the smooth floors as she shot over to a terminal and tapped into the feeds, her eyes darting across the screen.

"I wasn't aware of any drills-" the clone in charge said, stepping over to her. She whirled around and he seemed to finally recognise her when he looked her in the eye. The green one. "Lieutenant-General!" He saluted her immediately.

"Sergeant Stick, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yes, Lieutenant-General," he nodded, standing at attention.

"Sergeant Stick, this isn't a drill, I need you to put us on soft lock down, keep it quiet, understand?" she snapped her order so forcefully that he could not deny her, her urgency adequately conveyed. "Notify the nearest fleet to report in, we're going to need the back up," The scans were still processing and she had another Trooper scanning the atmosphere above them.

The door on the far end of the room opened and the Kaminoan Rein De entered, the one in charge of security that these clones answered to. Someone had clearly reported to him. She always remembered him because she found his name rather ironic.

"Lieutenant-General, this is highly irregular," he began, but her eyes were on the screens, darting back and forth across the data. "If you wish to run a training drill, you are required to notify me first-" Her comlink trilled and she answered immediately.

"Report," she commanded.

[I have the boys waking the cadet captains still here but the trainers…] clearly he was having trouble with their listening to a bunch of clones. She let out a sigh, at least the soldiers weren't questioning her.

"Good, I want everyone who is available ready for battle-" she began, when suddenly one of the Troopers cried out.

"I've got something! A ship just came out of hyperspace… no, several ships… they look small, I wouldn't have noticed them until they were right here!" The trooper pointed at his screen, revealing that there were indeed ships incoming. She was right.

"Lock the facility down! Commence Visitor protocol one!" she called, then looked to Sergeant Stick and pointed to her wrist, "I'm on channel six, keep me updated on the drop locations!" She headed for the door, "ping me as soon as you have contact with that fleet!" With that, she ran out the door, racing down to meet up with her soldiers. "You catch all that, Alpha?" she asked.

"Visitor One?" He asked for clarification, "then..?" As if on cue, all the lights in the facility turned red, the white walls and floors turning crimson.

"Yes Captain… we're under attack."


Notes:

Hello, I am back. Sone of you may have noticed I had no comments here last week, that is because I have not been doing so well. I was in a very bad place and tbh I am not much better this week but I am still trying.

Anyway, I thought this was a very warm and heartfelt scene with the clones and of course... that bit at the end there. Who is visiting? 👀👀👀

I am pretty frazzled still so I will sign off with my usual; please leave yout feedback in the comments, I seriously love it so much. It has really helped, especially on my rough days. With that, I will be back next week and we will have some fight scenes a-comin!

I hope you are all well and safe! 3