166The next morning…
This was the second personal and unfamiliar place he had been in in under twenty-four hours. When General Windcaster said she had called a friend, he wasn't really expecting her to pull over in the senatorial district. Dej climbed out of the speeder, Glitch staying extremely close to him as General Windcaster walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. It slid open to reveal a familiar auburn-haired senator. Dej had seen him on the holo news a lot lately, he didn't look much older than General Windcaster.
"General Windcaster," he greeted, "It's wonderful to see you again,"
"Likewise Senator Kryze," she said with a smile, "These are the troopers I was telling you about last night. Dej and Glitch." The young Senator smiled at them,
"It's nice to meet you both, I'm Korkie," he said, Esinon nudged her way past Korkie, walking into the apartment,
"Is the police officer here yet?" she asked, Korkie let out a small sigh, murmuring something under his breath.
"Yes, he's here," he replied, he turned back to Glitch and Dej, "You can both come in, General Windcaster is just in a hurry. She blames it on being a 'speedster'." Dej and Glitch followed after Senator Kryze into his apartment. It was far more spacious than General Windcaster's had been. More rooms, a better view, it definitely showed the difference between the Jedi lifestyle and the Senatorial one. There were a double set of stained glass doors with the lilies of Mandalore on them that led out to a balcony. Every part of the floor was covered in either lush carpet or marble. Different shades of blue decorated the rooms, Dej's attention was pulled from the room as General Windcaster finally met up with the policeman. The elder man glanced back at the two clones; the contempt in his eyes wasn't hard to read. Normally Dej would have taken looks like that off the shoulder, but he noticed Glitch submissively shrink away. Dej huffed, today was not the day. Esinon glanced back at her men before staring the policeman down.
"Can we talk outside please?" she asked, her voice sounded smooth and sweet, but Dej had been around her long enough to hear anger under her tone. The man nodded and they stepped outside the apartment. Senator Kryze was milling around in the background, watching the door intently. He finally glanced back at the clones who were still standing stiffly in the middle of the room.
"You can make yourselves comfortable," he said with a smile, a comlink beeped, he fished it out of his pocket reading the frequency. "I'm going to… go find something to do," he muttered to himself, the young Senator disappeared into the kitchen. Glitch moved first, sitting down on the couch. Dej followed him, standing in front of the couch. He didn't feel like sitting down. He instead resumed his study of the apartment. There was a piano in the corner, abandoned sheet music sat on the stand along with scribbled notes on a blank sheet of music.
Looked like the Senator was writing a song, his gaze shifted to an end table with a couple of different holos. There was one of the Senator with his… mother, Dej assumed. The women shared similar facial features, but not his bright head of hair. Instead, the woman had blonde, almost white hair. The holo next to it was one of General Windcaster, except she looked younger, only by a couple years but it was noticeable. Senator Kryze was hugging her shoulders from behind, his cheek pressed against hers. General Windcaster's face was burst into a large smile holding onto the Senator's hands.
Judging how Senator Kryze acted around the General, and seeing these holos now….they seem a little TOO friendly, but what did he know. Her life outside of the Duchess wasn't his to know even if she was dragging him everywhere. He was torn from his thoughts as the noise from behind the door increased, he sighed, It sounded like General Windcaster had engaged with the police officer in a full-out screaming match. He glanced down as Glitch sucked in a harsh breath, scrubbing his hands down his face. Dej placed a hand on his brother's shoulder,
"Is there anything I can do?" he asked,
"I could use a few more painkillers," Glitch mumbled, Glitch wasn't in his armor since Esinon didn't want to aggravate his wounds further, instead he was dressed in Jedi-issued robes, a similar dark to the ones General Skywalker wore. So that was where General Windcaster had disappeared that morning. Dej gave him a look of sympathy, squeezing his brother's shoulder lightly.
"We might have to wait until we get back to the temple," he murmured, Glitch made a low whining sound.
"Wouldn't Kryze have some?" he asked,
"I doubt he'll have the kind you need," Dej replied, Glitch grumbled again, flopping back on the couch. Even if Glitch was being a bit whiny Dej was just glad he was talking. Listening to Glitch pout was better than the uncharacteristic silence his brother had been giving him. Both of their heads whipped up as the door slid back open to a very angry-looking General Windcaster. Her face was flushed and her brows were etched into a very murderous look.
"I- argh- he's gonna- there will be so many words!" She snarled, starting to pace the floor, "Kriffin' Republic, if I were allowed in the Senate the Chancellor would be hearing so many words. And maybe the backend of my lightsaber," the next minute or so consisted of General Windcaster growling threats under her breath as she continued her aggressive pace of the floor. Senator Kryze re-entered the room,
"General Windcaster, could I talk to you for a moment?" Esinon glanced up at him, her face softening for a moment.
"Yeah," she muttered, Korkie grabbed her hand, pulling her off into a separate room. He placed his hands on her shoulders,
"Deep breath alright?" he said, rubbing his hands up and down her arms in a soothing motion. "It's going to be alright,"
"The police aren't going to do anything," she growled, "Since the clones don't have any kriffin' rights, I can't charge this guy with attempted homicide. 'They're technically just republic property.'" She mocked him angrily, "He says they have more important cases to track than this guy. They won't go out and look for him, all they'll do is arrest him if they happen to find him." Korkie stared at her for a moment, before gently pulling her into a hug.
"I'm sorry Esinon, I wish there was something else I could do," she made a low noise,
"It's alright, I… I just can't believe that I'm not able to protect my men from anything like this. Glitch almost died last night and the most this guy will be charged with is property damage," She snarled, she pulled away from him, folding her arms over her chest. "I'm gonna find that guy myself, I don't care if the police won't help me, that guy is going to pay for what he did to Glitch."
"Hold on Esinon, Fox called while you were outside and he said that he and the guard will go look for this guy. Glitch just needs to talk to a sketch artist," Esinon's face softened from its murderous look, rubbing her arm with her opposite hand.
"Yeah, alright, I'm gonna go take Glitch back to the temple. He's hurt, and maybe I can get Heart here to help him. He hasn't spoken a word since it happened." She wanted to know exactly what had happened, but she wasn't going to push it. She hugged Korkie once more, "Thanks for everything,"
"Of course, those two are welcome here anytime," he said, she nodded before walking back out into the room,
"Alright you two, let's get back to the temple. I'm gonna call one of the guard to come talk to you Glitch if you're ready for that," she said, Glitch's eyes went wide for a moment before he dropped his gaze back to the ground.
"Just… can you guys stay with me?" he asked in a small voice, Esinon nodded,
"Of course Glitch, whatever you need," she said, taking a knee in front of him.
"I could use some painkillers," he mumbled, she smiled,
"We'll get you some soon, promise," she pulled him into a gentle hug, Glitch let out a shuddered sigh, he was tired, and hurting, and the man's cruel words were on replay in his mind.
Flesh droid
Pet
Worthless
He shuddered, pressing closer to Esinon. She felt safe, she could protect him. They finally parted and they headed back to speeder,
Back at the temple…
"Just take your time," the sketch artist said, Esinon was still resisting the urge to pace. Fox and a few other guard members standing in the background would question Glitch in a few minutes. Glitch slowly made his description of the man and Esinon did her best to send soothing waves to the anxious clone. She glanced over at Dej who had gone stone cold in the corner. He hadn't said a word since they'd come from Korkie's apartment. Dej was generally a quiet person, but the look on his face was the same that she always saw when he was planning something. She really ought to talk to him, but… talking to Dej was hard. Having the hearts to hearts anyways, it was a lot of her talking and him saying 'Yes General.' The sketch artist finished and turned the drawing around so Glitch could get a look. Glitch glanced at the face once before directing his gaze back towards the ground.
Flesh droid
Pet
Worthless
Esinon sensed his distress, walking over and placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing tightly.
"Yeah that's him," Glitch muttered, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. The artist stood up and passed the datapad over to Fox who examined the sketch. Fox stepped forward.
"Glitch, can you tell us what happened exactly,"
"I was… I was waiting for Spitfire outside 79s, and that guy approached me and asked me if I could direct him to a train station." Glitch paused, scrunching his eyes to try and fight through the pain of the memories to tell Fox. "I-I offered to walk him, he seemed really lost. We… he waited until we were mostly alone." Esinon squeezed Glitch's shoulder tighter as he tensed and hunched smaller, "He tackled me into an alleyway, and…yeah." Fox nodded knowingly as Glitch let out a harsh breath, "Is that all?" he asked.
Fox nodded, "Yeah, that's all we needed, thank you Glitch," the pink-haired clone rose quickly and exited the room, and disappeared into one of the empty padawan's rooms Esinon had set up for him. Fox passed the datapad to Burn, "Put out an APB, I want him found now."
"Yes sir," Burn said, before disappearing from the room. Esinon crossed her arms,
"Have you had any other attacks like this Fox? Other mysterious disappearances?" she asked, Fox nodded,
"We've had a few unconfirmed desertions. But we'll look into it more, I've already got some people going through old cases." Esinon stared at him, she glanced over to where Glitch had walked out a few minutes earlier. She stared at Fox, her eyes going hard and cold.
"Listen," she said, her voice like the steel-edged blade of her dagger, "I don't want to make this messy for you, and I would like us to stay friends,"
"I would like that as well sir," Fox replied,
"You have twenty-four hours to find this man before I do it my way. And there isn't anything you can do to stop me," she said, low and dangerous.
"Your way sir?" Fox said, "If you do anything too reckless don't expect me to treat you differently than any other criminal because you're my friend. You are not above the law." she nodded, and Fox and his men exited the room. Esinon took a deep breath, centering herself,
"Permission to speak freely, sir?" Dej asked, she nodded, "If Commander Fox does not find this man before the twenty-four hours are up, I would like to accompany you."
Keep her safe.
Esinon sighed,
"I thought you might ask something like this. I only have one condition," she said, "If I tell you to turn around and run, you do it. I don't care how injured I look, how much trouble I am in, you run the other direction, got it?" This guy had killed clones, probably many of them, if he got Dej alone he could kill him. And Esinon couldn't lose him. Dej stared at the ground for a minute. He didn't like the prospect of leaving her to fend for herself. Dej knew she could take care of herself but General Archer's words were ringing in the back of his mind.
Keep her safe.
"I understand sir," he replied, voice unwavering. She gave him a nod,
"Good, I'm going to the barracks to check on Jeho and Byte. Stay here with Glitch, com if you need anything"
"Yes sir," Esinon left the apartment, leaving Dej to sit with his cold anger. His imagination ran wild thinking about what the guy did to Glitch. The blood on Glitch's body, a cruel smile on his assailant's face, his brother left to die alone. Dej was going to find that man if it was the last thing he ever did.
Twenty-four hours later…
Fox and his guard were unable to find the man. The only thing they did know was that their assailant was still on world. He'd struck again, killing a clone who had disappeared from a bar late last night. Esinon's mission was set. Currently, she and Dej were standing in the alleyway behind 79s as Esinon set up a small holodisk on the ground, plugging a few wires into the gauntlet on her arm. She grabbed a spider-looking device out of her bag as well, what Dej didn't know is that it was a cerebral interface, but that wasn't quite important at the moment so Esinon didn't bother to explain what she was doing. She attached it to her head, securing the small disks to her temple.
"General, I'm still uncertain on what the plan is," Dej said, watching her continue to type things into her gauntlet,
"I'm gonna explain in a second, just need to finish setting this up." a small grumble escaped her lips, "Jeho and Byte made this look easy in the lab." She made a noise of triumph as she stepped over the holodisk and pressed a button on her gauntlet. Holographic pixels crawled up her legs all the way to about a foot over her head. He blinked a few times as he stared at his own face. "Did it work?" she asked, Dej's mouth slipped open as the familiar voice of his General spilled from the mouth of the clone in front of him. He nodded slowly, as he looked closer he could see small differences. The clone's eyes were brown, not the usual amber color. There was a tuft of dirty blond hair at the top of his- well her head. Esinon took a second to study herself, and the blue and yellow 221st paint on her fairly shiny armor. "Jeho and Byte really left nothing out," She muttered, glancing at the Scipian markings painted on her handguards.
"What about your voice?" Dej blurted, "Sir," he was extremely thrown off by all of this. He knew it was her, but it didn't stop him from seeing a brother in front of him. General Windcaster hummed for a moment.
"I can just lower my voice," she suggested, "Hey, I'm Speedy, nice to meet you," lowering her voice about an octave. Dej cringed under his helmet, she didn't sound anything like a clone.
"Maybe I could do the talking General," he said, Esinon nodded,
"We can pass it that I'm mute!" she said suddenly, "I do know a bit of sign language, besides if I do talk, half the clones in there will instantly recognize me. Speaking of which, we should probably keep me away from Fives and Rex, I feel like they'd still know it's me even if I'm a clone." she clapped her hands together, "Alright, here's the plan, it's about 2100 hours right now. It looks like this guy likes to attack later, give the clones time to get drunk and get their guard down. Glitch was attacked at about 2200 hours. For now, we mill around the bar, make sure this disguise actually fools everyone, then we use me as bait." Dej didn't like that idea, but he knew it would probably work. This guy probably never took on clones unless they were alone. After all the clones were trained soldiers and knew how to fight. "Once I get myself alone with the guy, I'll signal you on my com and you can follow at a safe distance until he engages me, then you can hop in. Sound good?" Dej nodded, beginning to follow after her as they headed for the bar before he stopped,
"Two things General, one, does the hologram still function correctly if you're touched? Because the men can get a little… rambunctious." Dej knew once they were in a bar full of affectionate clones with a couple of drinks in them he couldn't go a couple of steps without getting clapped on the shoulder, or his hair ruffled. That was one of few reasons he didn't visit the bars; being over-friendly with clones he barely knew just wasn't in his arsenal of social skills.
She clasped her shoulder bell, "Yep, thankfully the disguise isn't a typical hologram. Solidified. I really don't know how Jeho and Byte did it,"
"And General, what should I call you?" he asked.
"Well I probably shouldn't use Anakin's nickname for me, too recognizable," she paused for a moment, "Cuyan," the mando'a word for survivor, she thought it was fitting enough. Dej nodded, "and make sure you drop the sirs and Generals because I'm your brother tonight, not your General,"
"Yes si- Cuyan," she smiled, bounding up the stairs with Dej right behind her. She was curious if this disguise would actually work or if the clones would be able to recognize which of them wasn't their own. This part of the operation was just an experiment, if she could fool the clones then she could fool this killer too. She glanced around at the familiar view of 79s,
"Hey Dej!" A voice yelled from the back, Esinon glanced up to see a few clones in 41st elite corps green in the back waving to Dej. Dej stared at his brothers for a few more seconds before he recognized them. He walked over to them while Esinon followed behind him, he hadn't seen them since he transferred so it would be good to talk to them. Plus there was no way they would recognize the General. "Hey brother!" Missile clapped him on the shoulder, "How you been? That new legion of yours treating you well?" Dej nodded,
"Yeah, I really like it there," he said, keeping up his facade of jovial relaxation even though his body was tense in anticipation of what was going to happen in under an hour. It was uncertain as to if the man would even take the bait, but they could only hope this would work. General Windcaster was keeping true to her cover of being mute and hadn't said a word, only giving smiles to the clones around her.
"Who's your friend?" Flag asked, glancing at the slightly smaller clone next to Dej. She smiled at him,
"This is Cuyan," Dej said, "S- he," he quickly corrected, "Is a new recruit with the 221st,"
"He doesn't look that shiny," Marsh replied, looking at Esinon's slightly battered armor,
'I'm no shiny,' she signed at him.
Marsh raised an eyebrow, "What's the matter, can't you talk?"
"He's mute," Dej supplied, "Traumatic injury during the first mission, lost his squad and hasn't said a word since," the three green painted troopers glanced between one another.
"Geez, we're sorry Cuyan," Flag said, Esinon shrugged,
"He's tough though, he'll make it," Dej replied, Esinon gave a firm nod. Dej knew very little about what General Windcaster had endured during the war, all he knew is that she'd been through it, they all had. The Jedi weren't exempt from the horrors of war. As time passed, the clones became none the wiser to the fact that there was a Jedi in their midst. Instead, they treated her exactly like a brother, affectionately calling her vod'ika, clapping her on the shoulder, and telling her embarrassing stories about Dej, while she watched her trooper's face turn red.
'Oh if only they knew,' she chuckled to herself, she glanced down at her chrono, it was almost time. She tapped Dej's gauntlet, successfully catching his attention. She jabbed her head toward the door and he gave a nod of understanding, distracting his brothers long enough for Esinon to slip away. She stood out on the steps of 79s, waving to different clones who entered the bar. Thankfully no one tried to stop and talk to her. She glanced down at her chrono, almost 2200 hours and still no sign of their target. Another hour passed and still nothing. She was about to go back inside to find Dej so they could regroup and come up with a new plan, but she finally spotted him. He looked exactly like Glitch's sketch. It took all of her strength not to kill him on sight as he walked toward her, she had to remember her mission was to capture him, not kill him. "Excuse me," he said, smiling at her, "Do you happen to know where the nearest train station is? I happen to be a little lost," he said with a chuckle,
Esinon signed at him, 'Couple blocks down,' he cocked his head,
"Oh… you don't speak?" Esinon shook her head, the man hummed for a second, "Well do you think you could walk me there? I really can't seem to find my way around down here, got a new job, and just trying to get home." Esinon nodded, starting to walk toward the train station, the man followed suit, "Oh thank you," She discreetly pressed her comlink behind her back, signaling Dej it was time. Esinon had already ID'd where the knife was underneath the man's tunic. She knew what a dagger hilt looked like when she saw one, she could feel the sheath of her own in her boot rubbing up against her calf. Her lightsaber didn't work with her disguise so she'd left it behind. "I speak a little sign language you know, do you have a name?"
'Cuyan,'
"That's Mandalorian for survivor, right?" he asked, she nodded, they lapsed into silence. The number of people was dwindling on the street. Esinon's body was tense as her heart hammered into her ears, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She took a deep breath slowly, ready for him to attack at any moment. "I haven't met many clones," the man finally said,
"Liar," she thought bitterly.
"But I guess there's not much difference between you all, so really if you've met one of you then you've met all of ya," Esinon shrugged in faux agreement, ignoring the tight anger building in her chest. She could sense Dej's force signature not far off, "I've heard lots of stuff from people on world here, no one really likes you clones. 'Flesh droids' is what they're calling you. Personally, I agree with them, you pieces of worthless filth aren't human!"
The man attempted to sock her in the stomach, but she caught his fist bending it backward, towering over the man, her face a menacing snarl. She kicked him in the stomach sending him flying, the man groaned as Esinon stalked toward him. He swept his legs underneath her, sending her crashing to the ground. Esinon rolled out of the way before the man was able to pounce on her, she jumped to her feet, the man pulled out his dagger. "So the little clone wants to play?" he sneered, she let out a feral snarl, lunging for him, immediately going for control of the dagger. When she couldn't wrestle it out of his hand, she called her own dagger out of her boot, pressing down upon him, she stumbled back when he unexpectedly jabbed a taser into her side. She cried out and crumpled to the ground, as the man unrelentingly held the electricity to her body.
The cerebral interface glitched out, her disguise melted away and she was revealed to the man. He stared at her for only a split second, before tackling her while she was disoriented. He dug the dagger into her skin at her collarbone, she cried out, trying to push away, "I've never killed a Jedi before," he whispered, dragging the knife down across her chest. "Guess there's a first time for everything,"
"General!" Dej shouted, the man looked up after he dug his knife further into her skin.
"Hey that's no fair, you didn't tell me you brought friends," he jumped off of her and started sprinting away as Dej fired off several stun blasts towards him. Dej continued to fire at the man as he scurried away like a rat. Esinon panted, pressing a hand to her chest, attempting to staunch the bleeding. When she spotted that Dej was starting for her she let out a frustrated growl,
"I'm alright, go get him!"
"But-"
"Dej, go!" she snapped, and he obeyed, sprinting after the man. Dej was gaining but the man was quicker than he looked, ducking and weaving through small alleys and crevices. The man obviously knew the Coruscanti underworld way better than he did. He ducked into an abandoned building, the blast door closing behind him. The door was old and rickety and all it took from Dej was a swift kick for the door to go flying. He entered the room, blaster poised. Dej's eyes scanned the room for any signs of the man.
"It's cute you know," his voice echoed off the building's empty walls, "You think your little Jedi wants to protect you," Dej whipped around, but the man was nowhere to be found. "Jedi pretend to be selfless, but they really aren't. They really don't care about you and I think you know that" the man's voice shifted and Dej fired at the rafters high above. The man chuckled, watching his prey below. "Poor little clone, can't wrap its mind around how clever I am." Dej's hand clenched tight around his blaster as frustration ripped through his veins, "I'm not surprised, all you are created for is to follow orders, a cute little pet for the Jedi to prance around with." Dej's jaw set, he watched the rafters carefully any move, any slip, anywhere he could get a shot in. Stay collected and refuse to give him a reaction, the man was just trying to distract him by toying with him. "Little clone thinks it's human," the man said in a sing-song voice, the words worming their way into Dej's head. "Poor Republic dog thinks it's different and unique, but oh it's wrong. You know, at this point I've killed so many of you, it's really hard to tell the difference. The little pink-haired puppy I killed two nights, oh he was different. He fought back, I've never had that happen before. He fought like a good little soldier, I thought you'd want to know that. Tell me clone, did you know him? Was he your brother?" he mocked, his voice oozing with poison.
Then Dej spotted it, the small slip of a flash of a leg in the rafters. He rapidly judged where the beam was and fired. The old rafters creaked and groaned as the beam came crashing down. The man let out a sharp cry just before Dej leveled his blaster with his head. His finger gripped the trigger tightly, his angry eyes stared directly into the man who stabbed glitch. Imagining hearing all those things just before you thought you would die must have been horrifying… but now the odds had flipped. He felt a dark satisfaction bubble up inside him as he saw fear flash in the man's eyes. Dej crept closer, as the man edged backward, already nursing his arm close to his chest.
"Is it my turn to mock you?" Dej asked, his voice sharp and dangerous. "Like you did for all of the clones you killed," the man's breathing picked up as Dej grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up. Dej's mind flashed back to Glitch in the apartment, broken and quiet. He threw the man against the wall, he coughed as he tried to recover but Dej slightly delivered his knee through the killer's stomach. He held himself as he slid down the wall. Dej grabbed the back of his head, pulling it into another knee and then punched the side of his head. He hit the ground hard, moaning as he held his body. The sight Dej beheld was one the man had surely deserved..but this wasn't enough.
He continued his assault, there was blood, bones cracking, and a pain started irradiating through his own fists. All he could see in his mind was Glitch's pain. His brother had been broken and hurt, this man would feel the same. Dej rolled the man over, lacing his arms around the man's neck, and started to squeeze. He could hear him gasping for air, his army flailed and scratched at Dej's armor.
Dej torqued his arms, about to snap his neck and finish the job. But then he heard a soft voice in his ear, and felt hands cupping his face. They pushed him away from the man and he eventually fell from Dej's grasp. He blinked a few times and the image of General Windcaster appeared in front of him.
"Breathe Dej, breathe," she murmured, "Just take it easy, you're better than he is." Dej tried to look around her, he was so close. If she hadn't have come in when she did then- "Look at me," Esinon said firmly, interrupting his thought. He obeyed as she dropped her hand to his shoulders. "I know you wanted to hurt him, I really do, but you're better than this," her voice softened, her eyes pleading with him. "I know you Dej."
Dej stared at the man behind her, he was bloody and bruised. His chest barely moved as he breathed. Satisfaction was replaced with shame as he realized how he'd let his General see him. A veteran was supposed to be better than this. Instead, he was being just as reckless and undisciplined as a shiny. He berated himself internally as Esinon let out a small grunt, pressing her free hand against the wound on her chest. She knew she hadn't been keeping enough pressure on her chest, but she'd been a little too busy, running and trying to catch back up with Dej. She felt dizzy, and lightheaded, most likely the blood loss. She let the man down, after an inspection of his wounds, Esinon decided he wasn't going anywhere. She leaned up against a pile of crates, her breathing starting to become labored.
"General?" Dej asked lowly,
She swallowed hard, "I've lost a lot of blood," she muttered, Dej grabbed her arm, gently easing her to the ground. He pushed her hands away getting to the larger part of the wound. It spanned from her collarbone down toward the very top of her chest. He locked his fingers together, pressing the heel of his hand against the wound, and locking his hands over her shoulder. She grunted, biting the inside of her cheek.
"Sorry sir," Dej murmured, she ignored the throbbing in her shoulder and started to tap in Fox's com frequency.
"Fox, we found him," she said, "We're on the third level in an abandoned storage warehouse. Bring a medic," she glanced over at the unconscious man on the floor. "Maybe a few medics,"
"What happened? Are you ok?" Fox asked, Esinon grunted,
"We're fine, but our friend over here needs a little help." she said, Dej shot her a look, "I also kinda got stabbed," he shot her another look, Esinon sighed, "I've got a laceration spanning my collarbone, I need stitches, I've lost a pint and a half, maybe two. I'm starting to go into shock," she let out a shuddered breath, squeezing her eyes shut. "Losing feeling in my limbs," she pressed two fingers to her wrist, "Pulse is increasing,"
"We're on our way," Fox replied, the com call cut out. Esinon let out a sharp breath, squeezing Dej's shoulder bell tightly, trying to keep herself conscious as her head started to spin.
"Hang on General," he felt guilty, instead of staying by her side he made her run after him in this kind of condition.
Keep her safe.
'I'm sorry General Archer,' he thought to himself shamefully, Esinon would have been able to sense Dej's swirl of emotions if she wasn't currently trying to fight off blacking out. Dej glanced up at the roar of a gunship and the Coruscant guard came into the room, a medic immediately knelt down next to Dej.
"We'll take it from here," he said, nudging Dej out of the way and applying pressure to the wound himself. Another medic came into the mix and began cleaning blood away from the wound across her collarbone, prepping her for stitches. Two more medics came in and started to assess injuries on the man, Fox stood over them and two guards were stationed at the door. The medics helped the man stand and rushed him to the nearest hospital. Fox glanced between the two of them,
"What exactly happened?" he asked, folding his arms over his chest. Dej opened his mouth to confess,
"I did," Esinon said, choking back a whimper as the medics moved onto the larger part of her wound, "Filth deserved it too," she spat, Fox raised a brow under his helmet. He glanced at Dej, who closed his mouth.
"Well, I warned you," Fox muttered, "General Windcaster, you're under arrest in the name of the Grand Army of the Republic," guilt crept up in Dej's stomach as Esinon was helped up and led into the gunship. Dej followed after them tentatively, he opened his mouth again to own up for what he did. He wasn't going to let General Windcaster go down for something she didn't do. Esinon shot him a look and shook her head ever so slightly. He could see the command to keep his mouth shut in her eyes, and so he obeyed, closing his mouth and keeping silent for the remainder of the ride.
General Windcaster hadn't given him a direct order… technically. All she had given him was a stern look, and he felt sick with guilt. The medics had gotten her taken care of and she was currently laying in the medbay, normally criminals would have been handcuffed to the bed, but Fox was pretty sure Esinon wasn't going anywhere. Dej scrubbed his hands down his face, listening to the beeping of the heart monitor next to her bed. Commander Fox's office wasn't far… Dej got up quietly and exited the room heading down toward Fox's office.
He wouldn't let his General suffer the consequences of his actions. She didn't deserve that. If one of them was getting locked up for this then it needed to be him. He was one of millions. She was unique. And her men needed her, she couldn't go down like this. He knocked on Fox's door,
"Enter!" Fox called, Dej took a deep breath before walking through the door. He was already knee-deep in paperwork, Commander Fox's office was even more of a disaster than General Windcaster's was. Fox was working on filling out another report, one that was likely for General Windcaster. "Dej thought I might see you tonight," Fox muttered,
"Sir, I wanted to talk to you about tonight," Dej said, "It wasn't General Windcaster who beat that man, it was me. I was-"
"I know," Fox interrupted, "General Windcaster isn't a very good liar," Dej thought she was a decent liar, but then again Commander Fox's whole job was to catch liars and criminals. "Besides, your knuckles were a dead giveaway." Dej scrunched his fists, feeling the sting of his split hands. Fox rose from his desk, holding up a neat flimsi report. He tore it in half, dropping it into the wastebasket. "He killed them, lots of them. Three of my own men, and I didn't even realize it until now. That man deserves everything you gave to him." Fox said coldly, "now, I want you to stay quiet about this. I don't want to hear about it, your hands are free of this. As far as anybody else is going to know he jumped off the warehouse while he was trying to run away from you. Understood?"
"Yes sir," Dej said, snapping to a salute. Fox gave him a nod,
"Go back to the medbay," he instructed, Dej nodded,
"Yes sir," Dej made his way back to the medbay where General Windcaster was starting to wake up. She glanced blearily up at him,
"Have you called Obi-Wan yet?" she murmured, Dej was pretty sure she hadn't asked him to call General Kenobi, "Mm-needs to come bail me out. I'm gonna be grounded till forever," she groaned,
"You're not going to prison General," he said, she glanced at him, raising a lethargic, yet skeptical, eyebrow.
"And how'd you manage that?" she muttered,
"Commander Fox… worked something out sir." he said, Esinon nodded,
"He always does,"
Back at the temple...
Esinon pulled her arm from around Dej's shoulder, as Jayla appeared around the corner.
"What in the name of the force happened to you!?" she exclaimed, seeing the dazed look in Esinon's eyes and the bandages sticking out from underneath her shredded robes.
"Stop yelling," Esinon muttered,
Jayla glanced from Esinon to Dej, "What happened?"
"We captured the man responsible for the late-night attacks sir, but not before General Windcaster was attacked" he replied, more guilt crawling up into his stomach.
Esinon pushed past Jayla, "I just want to go to sleep Jayla, I'll be fine in the morning." she disappeared around the corner, "Just need to sleep off the painkillers," she murmured.
Jayla followed after her, "Well at least let me help you."
"I don't need any help," The two young Jedi's bickering drifted as they went further into Esinon's room. Dej stood awkwardly in the middle of the apartment until Glitch appeared. Glitch grabbed his hand, dragging him back toward the padawan's room that had been converted into Glitch's room.
"You ok?" Glitch asked quietly, Dej clenched his fist, remembering the feeling of blood trickle down his knuckles. He released a heavy sigh,
"I don't think so Glitch..." he said, he stared at the wall for a moment before turning to Glitch. "That guy who attacked you… we found him," he said dejectedly,
Glitch smiled softly, "Well that's good," he said, "What are you looking down for? You got a criminal off the streets,"
Dej stared at the floor for a moment. " I… I almost beat that guy to death," he murmured, Glitch stiffened. Dej rubbed his hands feeling the soreness from the events of the night. "And if General Windecaster hadn't stopped me…I would've."
"I…" Glitch paused, "That doesn't seem like you," he murmured, Dej bit the inside of his cheek.
"I know," he whispered, "I shouldn't have let myself lose control like that, we're supposed to be better than that."
"You were upset, it's understandable, all I'm saying is that doesn't sound like something you'd do, but you're not exempt from feelings Dej."
"No Glitch, we're not supposed let feelings affect us in the field. We stay calm. We stay focused. Or people get hurt…" A long pause came between them, "She watched me beat that guy Glitch. His blood-stained my armor, my hands, and she saw all of that…" Dej made motions with his hands, showing where the blood had been. General Windcaster may have covered for him, but he knew she would have done that for anyone. Now that she had seen him crack she wouldn't trust him. the way she looked at him was going to change and everything he had done so far so make himself more reliable in her eyes would mean nothing. Glitch pulled Dej close, but Dej couldn't find the strength to hug him back.
A few days later…
Glitch pulled open his locker, grabbing a shirt. He let out a low sigh, pressing his forehead against the cool metal. He hadn't been sleeping well as of late, he wasn't going to tell Dej that. He just wanted to be left alone and for people to quit pestering him, but peace and quiet was hard to come by after everything that happened.
"You planning on dying your hair soon?" Dej asked from behind him, Glitch stiffened, he'd been letting his hair grow out. He just didn't have the energy to do it anymore. Now he looked just like any of the other clones, as it was always fated to be.
"Yeah, I wanted to dye my hair orange but I looked and we don't have any dye," He lied.
"Are you sure?" Dej asked, Glitch grit his teeth as he listened to Dej rustling around in his locker. "Do you wanna try any other colors? I have blue, and red... we could make purple…"
"Dej…please just stop"
"I know how to mix the colors," Glitch grumbled, sniffing his shirt before stuffing it back in his locker, and grabbing a different shirt. "I just want to do orange,"
"Any reason why?" Dej asked, "I don't think I've ever seen you use that one before," Glitch shrugged, he pulled another shirt out of his locker, closing it.
"I dunno, wanted to try something new," he turned around to see Dej holding a bottle of orange dye.
"And it wasn't even that hard to find…I was trying to get you to come forward on your own," he said, walking toward Glitch and pressing the bottle into his hand. "I've tried to let you take time to process all this, but you don't even look like yourself."
"What does it even matter?" he asked, shoving the bottle back toward Dej. "I'll just be the same as you anyways." Glitch ignored the pained look that crossed Dej's face.
"Glitch. We are not the same." Great, he'd heard the start of this lecture before… "Why… Glitch I don't-" Dej let out a harsh breath, scrubbing his hands down his face, "I don't understand why you're saying this. You've always had great pride in your individuality."
"We are all the same! No one can even tell the difference Dej!" Glitch stood up, waving his hands emphatically, "Not the Kaminoans! Not any civilian! No one! So why even try! I'm done, after that night it's been made very clear to me that everyone thinks I'm worthless, and I'm going to die anyways so there isn't a point in looking individual when no one will remember me." Dej's jaw set.
"You are not worthless," he said firmly,
"Yes I am," Glitch grit out, "look at me!" he jabbed an angry finger at the big pink scar in the middle of his abdomen, "Someone found me so worthless, they decided to hurry up and rid the galaxy of me."
Dej huffed through his nose. "Glitch, if Spitfire died could you replace him? Could you walk through fire, carrying brothers over your back, and still be as humble as him?"
Glitch's face contorted, "What are y-"
"No!" Dej interrupted him, "You couldn't! And if Bo disappeared, could you be our Commander? Could you carry the weight of a thousand troopers on your back like he does every day?! No! You couldn't! Could you be Jax? Heart? No…you couldn't."
Glitch was about to yell back, he knew he couldn't be like them, they were so much better than he was..while he was just worthless.
"And just as you cannot be them Glitch. They can't be you. Nobody can match the amount of emotional and happy-go-lucky glue you bring to the table. There is no one else with you kind of energy. You. And only you, are that clone. That's how your different. What that man thought about you doesn't matter. Everyone on this ship, and in the 41st appreciates and respects you for who you are. You've saved countless lives, and by giving us the clues we needed to take that killer down you've saved even more. You are worth it Glitch…don't you forget it"
Hey yall! I'm still not going back to having a constant posting schedule. My motivation for this fic has been low, but I have been working on other projects as I've gotten into other fandoms so be on the lookout for those if I decide to post them.
I still appreciate everyone who has stuck with me and continued to read, thank you so, so, so much for being so patient.
This arc comes to a close and I can't say when I'll be posting next
Next up on let's make this canon corner:
Bo: I wish we could block people in real life
Esinon: restraining order
Anakin: murder
The difference of Bo's general's
thank you for reading and make sure to leave a review!