Alternate Start (ARCHIVE)

Chapter Twenty: Chips

Satahl was trembling by the time she and Dogma had reached the medbay. Recalling her account of the incident had been harrowing, at best, and she just wanted to see if Tup was okay.

Bones glanced up, raising an eyebrow, "Commander. I assume you're here to see Tup?"

Satahl nodded, "Yes, I— I wanted to know if he was okay."

"Yeah he seems fine after the operation. I need to deliver what I pulled out of him to the general, but Tup's pretty out of it. He's on heavy painkillers and I just administered a sedative. General Sunna did a number on him. His jaw healed easy enough but he's still in pain and in need of rest." Bones explained, pulling back the curtain.

Satahl sat down next to Tup, reaching out for his hand. She didn't say anything. She felt concerned, and scared, maybe even confused. She brushed some of his hair out of his face, and he sleepily opened his eyes. It took him a moment to register that it was Satahl and Dogma next to him.

Tears rolled down his cheeks and he squeezed her hand. "Sat'ika, 'm sorry... wasn' me... t-tried t' stop it." He was slurring his words. Satahl wondered just how heavy of a painkiller he was on. "Didn' hurt ya... righ'?"

She shook her head. "No Tup. You just scared me is all. Master hurt you pretty bad though..."

He nodded slightly, "Good. D— Didn' wanna hur' ya... was terrifyin'..." Tup was getting more incoherent as the sedative took hold. "...scared me..."

Satahl rested her head on her arm, releasing his hand and letting him run his fingers through her hair to ground himself. He wasn't the only one crying. Tears rolled down her cheeks and dripped onto the blanket, leaning into the stroking of her hair. His hand slowed as he drifted into unconsciousness. Dogma sat down next to Satahl. "You alright sir?"

"I'm so glad he's okay..." she whispered as Dogma rubbed circles into her back. His gaze caught on his only batchmate, who was sound asleep already. He bit back tears and smiled a little, "Yeah...me too Satahl." His eyes softened a little.

"Me too."

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The game of telephone had begun. Brothers told brothers and soon, Kaar was dechipping his men by the squadrons. He kept his word. The rest of Krayt Squadron, the ARCs, and Sparkler were dechipped first. None of them knew how to feel, particularly Krayt Squadron seemed the most freaked out by it.

Droidbait had asked Kaar, with a fearful look on his face, what the general would have done had it happened to the entirety of Krayt in the middle of the field. Kaar had told him honestly that he didn't know. He didn't have to plan for his men unwillingly betraying him now that they'd had their chips removed.

Within two weeks several battalions reported their commanding officer, all of their ARCs, and at least one other clone was dechipped. A couple of clones from the Coruscant guard had sneakily gotten themselves dechipped and gotten their hands on the contingency orders coded into the chip. They'd handed it off to another battalion, which continued until it reached the Jedi Council.

Kaar had also learned that some of the key figures from his life had already come into the galaxy. Ben Rio, Borealis Colrove, and a few others. It felt good to leave at least the Clone'ade unchanged. In other news, he heard that a new youngling had been brought to the temple. It wasn't until he heard her name that he let a grin spread on his face.

Tal Rei.

He had been sitting with Shaak Ti in the room of a thousand fountains when he had heard.

"What is that smile about?" She hummed raising an eyebrow. Kaar chuckles, "Tal Rei was Ha Kes' master. I never did find out who Master Fett's clone parent was, but he shouldn't be far behind. I also heard that a cadet vanished recently. CT-23-2277."

Shaak Ti raised an eyebrow, "I assume he is important?" "Very. CT-23-2277 discovered the chips and ran away, got frozen in ice, and was discovered by my master and her friends. He was one Asher Kaminoa."

The Togruta looked surprised, then smiled a little. "I suppose everything is falling into place then."
"Yes it is. It's quite weird, to be older than Master Rei."

He'd gone to the creché that day, letting himself smile when he finally caught sight of of tiny Tal Rei. She cut a far less regal figure as a three month old infant. It was odd to see her without her gold-at-the-bottom hair, only having the mere wisps of dark curls. He took notice of a clone trooper in 212th gold staring right at her, and smiled. Her clone parent, he supposed. He cleared his throat.

"She's yours, I suppose?"
The clone looked up in alarm, then furrowed his brow. "You won't decommission me if I say yes, right?"
"Of course not."

He let out a sigh of relief, then nodded. "Yeah. Tal is my daughter, sir. I'm Flit."
"General Sunna, nice to meet you Flit."

Also in the creché that day was Fives. Desnuri had grown more self confident in his absence, now four years old, but was still attached to him as ever. He made sure to snap a picture of the little one to share with his brothers. He'd made a joke about how her montrals had grown in his absence, and she looked pretty proud that he commented on it.

"Master Drarii said I could be big as you!"

She had informed Fives proudly.

Fives was proud of her.

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"General, we've got our paint requisitions and our new Phase II armor."

Kaar glanced back, "Great. I can't wait to see it."

•—END OF CHAPTER—•

I know I did some big skips there but don't worry it was only two weeks. Also KAAR FEELS WEIRD BEING OLDER THAN A FELLOW PALADIN'S MASTER