Alternate Start (ARCHIVE)

Chapter Five: Welcome Domino

A month and a half in and the route was going as planned. The droids were being forced towards the Abbaji system on the edge of Wild Space. All involved battalions and Legions had lost men, and resupplies came today. Kaar grinned at the notification on his datapad, making his way towards the hangar. Shaak Ti had informed him that Domino Squad would be on the next transport to his flagship.

Sparkler didn't comment on how unusual it was for generals to come greet shinies, or on the fact that Kaar wasn't wearing his cloak properly, wearing it simply draped around his shoulders. He was just buzzing with excitement, since this was one of his first big timeline changes. Kaar hadn't yet started his game of Legion Telephone for the chips, but one thing at a time.

Kaar didn't bother to hide the spark of satisfaction in his eyes as he watched Domino squad enter the hangar. Fives and Hevy started roughhousing, Cutup joined in soon after. They only stopped once Droidbait drew their attention to the superior officers standing literally right there.

Kaar's gaze dropped onto the shinies, all of them flinching a little. He slipped off his mask, a warm chuckle rumbled in his chest. "At ease men, I don't bite. Sparkler might though." Sparkler lightly thumped Kaar's arm at the notion. "That's Agol's thing sir, not mine."

"Oh yes, that reminds me, did you find the glitter in your helmet this morning?"

Sparkler took his helmet off and gave Kaar a deadpan look. He had glitter in his hair and stuck to his face. "You know what sir? I did as a matter of fact." He pretended not to see Kaar's shoulders shaking with glee. Cloak and Dagger on the other hand were absolutely losing it off to the side when they saw Sparkler. Sparkler glared at them, and Kaar smirked, "You're lucky I dissuaded them from using the paint as well."

Sparkler's gaze snapped back to the two ARCs. "Latrine duty for a month!" He threatened, and they abruptly stopped laughing. "No Commander wait we're sorry—" Cloak started.

"We can help you prank the general—" Dagger added.

Kaar smirked, "Challenge accepted boys."

"Um... Permission to speak freely sir?" Droidbait asked nervously. Kaar nodded, "Go ahead."

"Why did you ask General Ti for us specifically?" Droidbait tried his best not to fidget. Kaar nudged Sparkler with his tail, and the Commander raised an eyebrow as Kaar hummed, "The Force guided my hand." None of them seemed particularly satisfied with the answer.

"Cloak, if you could show the shinies to the barracks then that'd be great. Sparkler and I have to go prepare for the next part of the plan." He waved off the Shinies, glancing back one more time. "Oh, and welcome to the 201st."

He pulled his thermal cloak from his shoulders with a flourish, hearing a very held back squeak out of one of the shinies from Domino. Sparkler rushed to join him, glancing back one more time then rolling his eyes. "Congrats sir, you killed one of them."

"Pfft, they'll get used to it Commander. We all use the same gym after all and they can't just avoid it." He grinned, "They'll have to face the muscle some time."

Sparkler was trailing glitter. Kaar did his best not to laugh, but Force was it hard. He opened the door to the meeting room for Sparkler. "Glittery ones first."
"With all due respect sir? Kriff off."

Kaar gasped in mock offense, following Sparkler in. "How dare you Commander. I oughta court martial you."

Commander Sparkler leaned against the table. "Alright sir, I have to know. What's so special about those five that you addressed them specifically?"

"I don't know what you're talking about Commander." Kaar hummed innocently, bringing up the routing plan again. "Don't play dumb with me sir. You looked right at them when you said welcome, and you had a look of satisfaction only when you saw that squad arrive. I also saw that message from General Ti that was specifically about that squad of shinies in particular, so what is so special about them?"

"What did I tell them before?"
"That the Force guided your hand. I'm not accepting that as an answer sir."

Kaar sighed, "That's the only answer you'll be getting for now. Now we have to focus Commander."

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"Oh c'mon shinies~ Everyone's sat with the General at least once."

Kaar looked up as Cloak and Dagger were trying to coerce Domino squad to sit at the table with him. He raised an eyebrow. A different clone, with a streak of red in her curls, approached Kaar. "Sir, here are the statistics you requested from the Informations division." He smiled warmly at her, "Thank you Ladybird."

Ladybird looked excited as she hurried away, and Kaar turned his attention to Domino. "Cloak, are you terrorizing the shinies?"

"No sir I wouldn't dream of it!" He said, absolutely dreaming of it.

The general shook his head with a soft chuckle, waving Domino over. "Go ahead. These di'kutla vode are just messing with you boys."

Droidbait was the first to sit down, and he decided to sit right next to Kaar, who gave him a soft smile. "Bold. I like it."
"Thank you sir." Droidbait's cheeks darkened a little at the praise. His batchmates followed, also sitting at the table.

Kaar erased something from his notebook, checking the information he had been given. He shook his head, popping a cube of dried meat into his mouth. He started to hum a tune familiar to the shinies around him. He double checked his decision, and smiled to himself, letting himself have a purr of satisfaction.

"Something good sir?"
Kaar nodded at Hevy's question. "You boys are with me, Cloak, Dagger, and the commander for the ground assault on Kalee. I decided that each shiny squad would be safer if an ARC accompanied each group, but I took both Cloak and Dagger since we'll be at the front. Kalee is dangerous, and I'm just the slightest bit rusty on my hunting maneuvers."

"Hunting?" Cutup repeated. Kaar nodded, "Sort of a coming of age thing to take down your own mumuu." He picked up his mask from the table. "My master took me to Kalee to hunt my own when I was ten. Take a look." He slid the mask over so the Dominoes could look.

"Typically you get awarded a color based on how you hunted or your most prominent feature. While I may look like a brawns type, I know that muscle isn't everything. In my culture, the color blue is for wisdom." He grinned as the boys looked up at him in awe. Kaar chuckles. "Tell you what. If we run into any of 'em, and you get the chance, I'll help you make a mask of your own."

Even the ARCs looked up at the prospect. "Really sir?"

Kaar nodded, slipping on his mask. "That is... if, you can take one down. Mumuus are tough, but they sure aren't blaster resistant. I prefer a slugthrower myself."

The conversation went from Kaar's culture, to various other topics, at one point it was a game of Kriff, Marry, Kill which had Droidbait red in the face when Cloak had laid the options out as Kaar, Obi-wan, and Anakin. He had hurriedly asked if they could move to a different topic.

Late meal that day, Kaar had decided, had been his favorite part of the day.

•—END OF CHAPTER—•

Translations
Mando'a:
Di'kutla - Idiotic
Vod(e) - Brother(s)