Alternate Start (ARCHIVE)

Chapter Six: Kalee

((A/N: From here on out, dialogue in Kaleeshi will be underlined))

Kaar took a deep breath at the greenery around him. He hadn't even bothered with his thermal cloak. The familiar chirps of unperturbed birds flooded his ears as he and his squad stepped off the gunship. They were finally in the final stage of the routing. Kalee had been landed on, just as predicted. His pupils turned to slits as he could smell the wildlife around them.

The paladin wasted no time scaling a tree to get a better look of their surroundings, sliding back down halfway to comm Sparkler. "Commander, there's a village a few klicks south. It's a lagoon, so watch for kiibalsa."
"Kiibalsa sir?"
"Ambush predators. They live in the water and grab prey by the leg."

He leapt off the branch and hit the ground, falling into a roll at the last second and getting to his feet. "Relay the warning to the other platoons. Tell them to watch out for predators in general. And locals. Know what, anything that isn't me or a clone."
"Copy that sir."

Kaar expertly pushed through the leaves and branches, and he could feel the fascinated gazes of his troopers. None of them had ever seen Kaar so feral before. They watched their general's eyes dart around at every sound, tail slipping through greenery like a fish through water. His steps were as quiet as could be, they noticed the expert way he shifted his weight. His ears turned and flicked and swiveled as much as his eyes, taking in as much information as possible, easily making up for the lack of visibility on the clones' parts.

"Hey General Sal, I'm curious. You don't exactly blend in with the forest, so how are you able to navigate so well?"
"An excellent question Echo. See, I was born in the dunes, which is in a different hemisphere and further inland. Less greenery, more sand. But I worked far more often here, in the jungles and lag—"

Kaar held up a hand, closed in a fist. He took out his lightsaber, but didn't activate it. He silently scaled a tree, tail wrapping around the branch he was on as he inspected the noise.

He stayed silent as he saw something sneaking up on Dagger. Kaar leapt out of the tree and on top of it, devolving into a tangle of claws and attempted biting before Kaar managed to yank the Kaleesh off of him.

The green skinned woman broke away from Kaar, letting out a deep hiss. Suddenly her hiss broke off, blinking at Kaar in surprise as she looked him up and down. "You aren't one of those clankers." Kaar shook his head, holding out a hand. "Jedi Paladin Kaar Sal. Do you speak Basic? For my mens' sake?"

She nodded, shaking his hand. She spoke in harshly accented Basic. "Yes I do. Lasmoso Lij Tedam. Pleasure to meet you Kaar Sal."

Sparkler pulled his helmet off and stepped over, extending his own hand, "Commander Sparkler. Pleasure to meet you ma'am, and thank you for not hurting the general too badly."

Kaar scoffed. "Oh please Commander. A few scratches are nothing new. Tedam, do you have a village nearby?"

She nodded. "Yes as a matter of fact. Come, I will lead the way."

Kaar followed quietly. Dagger was gossiping to Cloak in ARC sign the entire way. Droidbait and Echo were jumpy. When Kaar noticed, he didn't hesitate to drop his shields and project calm towards the two nervous troopers. At their gasps, he turned and tipped up his mask, giving a warm smile and a wink, holding a finger to his lips in a Don't Tell motion.

His eyes snapped forward as Lasmoso let out a cry of anguish. The village had been destroyed. Kaar felt rage bubble up inside him. "Search for survivors men. I want a thorough sweep."

~-~

Fives poked around the destroyed village. It looked like the inhabitants put up quite the fight. His eyes softened beneath his helmet as he found a togruta leaned up against a house. He crouched down, pressing his fingers to the man's throat. He shook his head. "Dead. Poor civvie."

He made a small motion. "C'mon Echo. We should check inside too." The troopers stepped into the house, activating their flashlights. "Another one Fives. Woman this time." He rolled over the body, which had blaster burns a plenty. There were also plenty of destroyed droids in the house.

Fives pulled off his bucket, furrowing his eyebrows. He jolted as a tiny child burst from the closet, hugging his leg before he could react. Fives shook off his shock, crouching down and letting them wrap their tiny fingers around his hand. "Hey there little one. Speak Basic?"

^
((The little one in question))

They tilted their head. Fives picked them up with a sigh. "General, we found a survivor. I don't think they speak Basic."
"Copy. Bring them to the rendezvous point. Dagger said that he and Tedam found a very young Kaleesh."
"Yes sir."

Fives and Echo started to walk out of the house. The little one nuzzled their face into Fives' neck. They made a small squeak of distress, Fives presumed that they'd seen the bodies of what were presumably their parents.

He brought them back to the group. Lasmoso's eyebrows went up. "Desnuri! So her parents must have... oh dear..." the General stepped closer, slowly taking her from Fives. Desnuri bit him, so he just released her back to Fives. Lasmoso approached and waved Kaar closer. "Here is her clan marking." She pulled the back of Desnuri's shirt down so General Sal could see the marking high between the three year old's shoulder blades.

His eyes widened slightly. "Jai. I suppose this may be his granddaughter then." Desnuri turned her head at her clan name. "She's bright in the Force. Since she has no one I suppose I could just bring her to the temple then." He smiled a little, changing over to Kaleeshi.

Whatever he said, Desnuri must've liked what she heard, since she nodded her head. Looking satisfied, General Sal's eyes fell on Fives. "Fives, I don't suppose you'd mind carrying the youngling? She seems to like you." Kaar fell back into Kaleeshi, gesturing at Fives and presumably teaching her what the clone's name was.

Desnuri curled her tail around his vambrace, looking at his face, then squealing excitedly, "Fives!"

Fives had never in his life wanted to protect something more than he had in this current moment.

•—END OF CHAPTER—•