Consequences - Part 1
Zaiya was entirely oblivious to Crosshair's true thoughts. While she had felt some conflict in him, it was muddied and she wasn't about to pry into his mind to find out. She'd heard the confirmation from Ninety Nine, and could not help some excitement at seeing them heading back to their barracks. She hoped they enjoyed their little gifts, and she was a little sad that she couldn't see their faces, but it was not the point.
Ninety Nine met up with her nearer to the standard training halls, his grin not one he was able to hide.
"Another excellently executed mission, Ninety Nine," Zaiya grinned and petted his shoulder.
"All thanks to you," the clone beamed.
"Nonsense, it was your idea," Zaiya rebuffed, and quickly changed the subject. "You said you wanted me to meet someone…?" she asked. Ninety Nine nodded enthusiastically.
"There was! A couple of my brothers have been having a hard time with the cadet training. I know they can do it… but maybe you can help them see it too? What with you being Lieutenant-General and all." He hobbled ahead rather quickly and Zaiya almost had to jog to keep up.
He escorted her into the training room a little down the corridor, and led her up to the observation platform. From there she witnessed a group of cadets running trials and… not well. They were squabbling mid-fight and not paying attention to directions, they'd only traversed half the course before being knocked down by the mild stun rounds.
"I see what you mean," Zaiya replied with a small smirk. "Are they newly put together or of the same batch?"
"Two of them are batchers but the other three were from different batches," he explained. Zaiya looked at him out of the corner of her eye.
"That's unusual, isn't it?" she asked, didn't most clones train with their batchmates from a young age?
"It is, but sometimes… not all clones make it this far," his voice became bitter and she instinctively laid a hand on his shoulder. His own hand dwarfed hers as he rested it on hers in appreciation.
"Shall we say hello?" she asked with a small smile. Ninety Nine's expression brightened and he nodded. The two headed back down and watched the five clones trudge past them, though Ninety Nine stepped out, they hadn't noticed her yet.
"Don't be discouraged boys," he encouraged, and she smiled. He was ever-faithful to his brothers… However, one of them was not so kind.
"Yeah? What would you know, Ninety Nine? You're just a maintenance clone…"
…you're just a corcitura…
Something sparked in her and in a flash she was behind them.
"Trooper," she snarled. The men jolted at the unfamiliar voice and upon turning the colour drained from their faces. They were quick to salute and stand at attention. Though Zaiya even at her full height was not quite to their level, she still cut an imposing figure when she wished, one the clones had learned to be wary of.
"What are your names?" she asked tersely.
"We don't all have names, Lieutenant-General," the leader of the group spoke up. She just raised her brow at him.
"I am CT-782, of Domino Squad," the leader proclaimed. He had been the one to speak poorly to Ninety Nine.
"Hevy," Ninety Nine whispered beside her, and she flicked a glance at him before returning her gaze to the cadet. Yes, it did seem to suit him.
"CT-00-2010, they call me Droidbait, ma'am." Zaiya wanted to frown at him but kept her expression neutral, merely nodding in response.
"I'm CT-5555, you can call me Fives." He gave a brief smile and she wondered if he was as mischievous as the glint in his eye suggested.
"CT-1409, Lieutenant-General," the next said with another salute. Fives gestured with his thumb to his brother.
"We call him Echo," he almost grinned but managed to refrain. She allowed his interruption for now,
"CT-4040," the last said, "I haven't picked my name yet,"
"I see," she mused and looked across their faces, each of them felt so different, there was something about the middle two that seemed… long. Like there was some path ahead that she could not yet see the end of. For now however she would address the most prominent issue. "Do you find there to be something unseemly in maintenance work?"
"Uh, ma'am…?" the one Ninety Nine dubbed Hevy responded.
Her brow twitched.
"Ninety Nine here, he comes to me, he tells me of the faith and trust he has in you and your squad. He tells me that despite your setbacks, you are fine soldiers. He offers you encouragement and you almost spit in the face of your own brother in response?" she asked, her nexus eye blazing, the little wisps of green mist trailing up from it.
"Wh- we just-" he began but she held up a hand.
"If one of you fails, you all fail. You are a group, you are brothers, and Ninety Nine is one of them. He has a greater spirit and faith in his brothers than any clone I have encountered. Perhaps if there were more of you like him, the Grand Army of the Republic might be unstoppable…!" As true as it might have been, she regretted those words as soon as they left her mouth. Hevy caught it and glared at her.
"You think the rest of my brothers just don't believe enough? That it's their own fault that they are dying?" he snarled, leaning in closer to her.
"No," she replied quickly but calmed herself. "No, I think reasons far beyond you are at fault for the death of your brothers." She took a slow breath and kept Hevy's heated gaze. "I simply mean that the five of you will need trust in each other and need to work together to succeed. If trust on one's brethren could win wars, Ninety Nine certainly could. He bears the same heart as you, do not discount him, soldier, you are still brothers."
"You say that like you know what it means." Hevy's eyes narrowed though it was more observational than accusatory.
"I know what it is to stand where he does," she replied solemnly. Hevy's eyes widened slightly in confusion. There was a long pause as she looked him over.
"I hear Domino Squad has more trouble than many of the other squads," she stepped back to give him more space. "Come with me."
Zaiya guided the squad back to her office again, Ninety Nine had to depart but she promised to look after them in his stead.
As they walked, she tapped through her comm and brought up information about the squad, their failed tests and the numerous issues sent to her in the past by Master Chief Bric. Of course they were failing if they had him as their trainer. He was notorious for pushing his cadets to an almost obscene level. Her lip curled. She longed for the opportunity to knock him down a few pegs. Or off Kamino entirely.
She had not realised these clones were Domino Squad until Hevy had outrightly said so.
Upon entering, the maintenance drone she had been assigned brought over a tray it had prepared, she'd sent the instructions as they'd departed the training rooms. The tray was set with a collection of cups and a large teapot. It was practically ancient in a world of droids and space craft, but it was one of the few things she often enjoyed from home. Annoyingly Shaak Ti, she had discovered was similar in that regard but she oft tried not to think about it.
"So, I have read reports, but sadly we have not had the chance to speak," she began, as she took a seat on one of the couches, her legs crossed at the ankle and tucked to one side, knees together. With a graceful hand she set to pour the cups, gauging how sweet each of them would like it by her own observations. "I believe I can remedy that now." She gestured to the cups, "I can't guarantee it will be to your palate but the sweetness level should be adequate." The droid hovered over and handed her the datapad from her desk. She took a sip of the tea and watched as the others did as well. They didn't flinch too much at least.
"So… what do you want from us…?" Fives asked after an awkward silence.
"I want to hear your stories. Other squads do not face your same challenges, I would like to determine why."
"Most squads are a whole batch, aren't they?" CT-4040 said with a humourless chuckle.
"Then tell me about that." The five of them looked around awkwardly.
"W-well Echo and I are from the same batch," Fives began. Zaiya just nodded, encouraging him to continue. "The uh… the rest of our batch didn't make it through the incubation stage." He looked down, "only us."
"I was the last of my batch from a training accident…" Droidbait murmured.
"There was an issue with the development… two died in vitro, another developed illnesses… and the last was sent… to maintenance," CT-4040 interjected, his eyes drifted towards the floor. Hevy looked a little stricken and he too looked down.
"I… I led my batch to a place I thought would be fun to see Tipoca City from outside… There… the storm was… I couldn't save them. It was my fault…" He looked stricken. So much damage to clones that had not even seen battle. Her hearts ached and she took a breath.
"I cannot know your pain in this way, and I shall not pretend to, I feel that would be worse." She shook her head and laid down her cup and ran a hand over her braid. "You wish to be ARC troopers, is that right?"
"Yes, Lieutenant-General," Hevy replied, sucking in a breath. She nodded.
"To begin, we need to have you thinking like ARC Troopers. It is not easy, I push them hard… and the ARC's have a bond to each other, strong as any batch-bond, do you understand?" They nodded hesitantly. "It means that even if they are not all of the same batch, the ARC's are brothers first, willing to stand and die for the man next to him. My job is to arm them with the skills so they don't have to perish." They listened and seemed to contemplate her words.
"To think like an ARC Trooper, we need to bond together…" Fives began, bringing a hand to his chin, she turned slowly, the wheels almost visibly turning in his head. "So you mean to say, we're different from the other clones… the Master Chief called us a bad batch… but we have suffered loss unlike many of the other cadets." His brothers looked at him and Zaiya's eyes widened slightly. Her ARC's had trouble understanding her lessons. She'd not wanted to hand the answers to them, but even they'd needed prodding. Not Fives. He had a bright spark in him, something she hadn't seen in a while and a smile spread across her face.
"You're right," Droidbait added, "but what good is it if we can't work together…?"
"Perhaps then we need to discover your flaws, as a team and work on them together," Zaiya suggested.
"What, by sitting here and talking about our feelings…?" CT-4040 asked with a bit of a sneer. Zaiya chuckled in response, it was not an unwarranted response.
"No, we don't have the time for that. I have a better plan. I will oversee you in a specialised training, not quite at ARC level, but something to test your weak points and have you work on them as a group. If one of your brothers had an injury you would flank to that side to protect it, would you not?" she offered.
"So this is the same as that, but the wound is in our heads…? Like protecting a mental weakness instead of an injury," Fives asked and she let out a little dreamy sigh as she rested her chin on her hand to look at him.
"Look at you flexing that big big brain of yours," she grinned. Oh, she liked this one. She liked him a lot. Though the Nightsister wondered if his ever curious mind might one day get him into trouble. She wondered if she would still be here when they were promoted to ARCs. From what she had seen, just by sitting here with them, they certainly had the potential.
"So, it would be a short stint of training, granted such a turnaround would not be possible overnight, I think a crash course could be beneficial, what do you say?" Zaiya asked, her hands clasped in her lap as she looked between them.
"I'm in!" Fives spoke up first, jumping to his feet excitedly, "I wanna be an ARC trooper!"
"So do I!" Hevy agreed. Sure enough, one by one they agreed and she held up the datapad to confirm it in her schedule.
"Then it is done," she smiled.
"So easily?" Hevy asked, "don't you need approval?"
"I just got it." She gestured to all of them. "Now, you'd best be ready, I'm not a Lieutenant-General because of my gentle tactics." She stood and shook each of their hands. These boys had no idea what they had signed up for.
Zaiya sat back at her desk, she was waiting for the holocall to connect, the little trilling while awaiting the pick up lulled her while she waited. Her eyes slowly closed as the sound continued. It was a while later before it stopped and there was silence.
[Ver'alor?] asked a stern voice and her lips curled upward.
"Commander," she replied affectionately.
[Am I interrupting your nap?] he asked and her eyes opened slowly. Across her desk as though he were sitting on the other side, was Coruscant Guard Commander Fox. She gave him a warm look.
"Not at all, Commander, but you look like you could use one, did you wish to get some rest? I can stay on the line to pretend you're in a meeting?" she suggested, raising her brows.
[No, thank you, Ver'alor,] Fox replied, but the corners of his mouth rose.
"So, tell me how it's been going." She gestured with a flourish as she often did in her Nightsister greeting, then leaned forward, her elbows on her desk. She looked forward to these chats. Fox was strictly speaking not meant to have these calls. He especially was not meant to gossip and vent about the ridiculous senators… He was also not meant to tell her about the goings on of the Chancellor.
Though he had previously admitted her reactions made him laugh and he always felt better after they spoke. Zaiya was not going to complain about the information she received, and for the most part, she was not wholly interested in the comings and goings and affairs of the senators on Coruscant. She just enjoyed speaking to him, not all of the Commanders or ARC's could check in with her and she might be pathetically sentimental, but she liked speaking to them, even though it was not a trainer/student relationship, more like friends. It made her days on Kamino less… empty.
Fox spoke about some event that had happened, needing extra security from his men and his disdain for the frivolous waste of time that it was. He took a sip from a caf mug that was a distinctly non-standard issue and she smiled a little wider.
"I see you got it then," she nodded to the cup. It had arrived with a few other gifts as well.
[This was from you?] he asked, and she shrugged.
"Perhaps… Doesn't the hard-working Guard Commander deserve a decent cup of caf in a big fancy cup?" she held out her hands as if presenting her argument before her.
[It's given me a will to kriffing live,] he admitted. [I dunno where you found those pods, but they're like liquid sex.] He shook his head then suddenly looked aghast as he realised what he'd said. Zaiya just laughed.
"I'll take your word for that," she grinned and shook her own head. Evidently that was how he spoke to his brothers.
[Sorry, Ver'alor… I didn't mean-]
"I understand Commander," she chuckled, and waved off his apology. "Did that bitch come back to bother you? The mirialan one?" She changed the subject, reminding him of a story he told her last time. Apparently she had in fact been back and Fox went on a ranting tirade, and very impolitely told Zaiya what he thought of the woman in question. The more emotive he got the more she laughed and encouraged him. She knew it would help him feel better and it was entertaining to hear.
After he had calmed down he asked about her own exploits and she detailed her taking on the Domino Squad, their test coming up in the next few weeks. She was certain they would graduate as they had indeed improved. She also mentioned her looking for an opportunity to take Bric down a peg… or twelve. Fox seemed to agree on that point, and lamented he couldn't see it.
[How're your wounds?] he asked quietly during a lull in conversation.
"Wounds?"
[You were stabbed, remember?]
"Oh…" he referred to her previous capture. "Fox, that was months ago!"
[And the last time I spoke to you was just after you'd gotten back… you looked awful,] he replied sternly.
"Ugh… you sound like Alpha. I am perfectly fine, Fox, you don't need to worry," she shook her head.
[You don't exactly make it easy,] he retorted, folding his arms. [You do a lot of good for us clones,]
"Not hardly… I just do what I can to keep you alive longer, but I still send you all off to be slaughtered in the machine of war," she flopped back into her chair with a sound of disgust in the back of her throat.
[You care a helluva lot more than most, don't discount that, Siren.] She paused at that. This wasn't a Commander talking to a Lieutenant-General. This was Fox talking to Siren. She reached up, her memory strand significantly fuller, and she touched on the dark red bead Fox had chosen. His mouth lifted slightly at the gesture. Fox had such love for his brothers. She was in awe of him sometimes.
"Well, don't have too much faith in me, Fox," she replied, letting her hand drop. "I could disappoint you."
[It would have to be something significant for that to happen.] He sounded so confident. Her chest ached, knowing her time on Kamino was coming to a close soon… Would they see it as a betrayal? That would be the worst thing for her to be seen as by the clones.
A traitor. The word burned at the back of her neck. It was the one thing she didn't want. A sound came through on the holo and Fox sighed.
[Duty calls,] he groaned.
"Evidently," she chuckled and prepared to sign off. "Enjoy your… liquid sex," she said in a deadpan tone and was gifted the sight of Commander Fox choking on his caf before the holocall dropped.
Now alone, her smile faded. That bad feeling on the back of her neck was back.
Notes:
Hello Lovelies!
I did it, I finally moved house. So stressful. I did the same thing around this time last year but time flies. Now, I haven't written much in advance so I gotta get on that.
Stress and potential panic attacks aside, I like the new place a lot. I hope it will be conductive for me.
I hope you all liked the new chapter and mentions of Domino Squad! Also Fooooox! I love Fox, he is delightful! As always please please please feel free to comment, I love them so much! It really keeps me going. Next week, Zaiya must in fact deal with consequences of her action. Or in this case, inaction.
I shall see you then!
