Wars Amongst the Stars: Rebellion: Vol. 2

Chapter Thirty-Nine

The Clone Commander leads her to, what is effectively, his home. As soon as the door opens, the two are met by another Clone, "Who was outside, Commander?" he asks, and then immediately notices Keen. He jumps to attention, saluting.

Ari'abel responds with a salute, disigniting her blades, but keeping the hilts in her hands. She gazes around the interior of the bomber, which gives off a very homey sensation. There are helmets hanging upside down from some zip-cord, a few plants resting inside. There's a skylight, which looks as though it could've been caused by the crash. A small fire is directly beneath it, so that all the smoke goes outside. Over the flames is a creature of some sort, being roasted. The Jedi doesn't question how the soldiers made the ship so homey, deciding instead to just accept it. "Nice place you boys got here. Very homey."

"Yeah," one of the Clones calls to her, "Although we miss home."

"Kamino?"

"Our Galaxy. Familiarity. And, yeah, I guess Kamino"

Keen scratches her head, considering. "Alright, my ship's just up top, and I got room for six, what d'you say?"

Cody turns, looking at her, "Would you be comfortable with that, Sir? We're Clones after all. I know it'll be hard after what my brothers did."

"The Jedi Code tells me to care for all life, no matter how great or small. The six of you are alive, which makes you under my protection."

"Then I think we'd all agree to go with you then."

"Good," she smiles at Cody. Plopping down on the floor, she adds, "but first, we eat." The Clone who was supervising the roast smiles at her. His hair is mostly grey, with fleks of the original black spread throughout. His Force-signature doesn't strike familiarity in the Jedi Master, which doesn't surprise her. Unlike Shaak Ti, she didn't make a habit of meeting all the Clones. "I guess introductions are in order. I may already know you, but, even so, it's been a while. Jedi Master Ari'abel Quinara, or Keen, at your service."

The Clone watching the food holds a hand out to her, which she realizes is a prosthetic, with burns around where the metal links to the flesh, "I'm Ember, nice to meet you, General."

She shakes his hand. The Clone who saluted her when she first walked into the room practically falls onto his vode, leaning over his shoulder. He has a tattoo under his left eye, which seems to be a small flame. His head is without hair, not even a beard. "You probably don't remember me, and I don't expect you to. The name's Hotrod."

Keen wracks her brain, trying to place the Force-signature of this specific Clone. She runs a hand through her hair, squinting at Hotrod. "Hm, was it just before Master Kenobi went to Florrum?"

"Good memory."

One of the Clones, who were still standing off to the side, approaches. He sits down beside her, and the Jedi Master can sense he's a quieter presence. He greatly resembles Cody in the hair department, but his chin is merely covered in stubble. "It's nice to meet you, and work with someone of your caliber, sir. My names Oati. I apologize for Hotrod, he's a glutton for attention."

Ari'abel smiles at him, nodding slightly in acceptance of the apology. "Well, we certainly can't blame him. I doubt you get many visitors out this far."

The next Clone to greet her still has his hair in a close crop, and his armour appears to shinier than his brothers, clearly having been polished recently. Her eyes can't help but notice the insignia of a red cross on his shoulder plate, immediately pegging him as a medic. "Jeff, sir," he salutes, "A pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine, Jeff. No need to be so formal, we're all friends here."

He nods, drooping from the military posture, making his way to one of the benches along the wall.

The final Trooper joins his vode on the bench. His hair may be shaggy, but not that long, just enough so it droops into his brown eyes. He has a scar running from the bottom of his left ear along his neck to where it disappears down toward his right shoulder, and another one directly beneath his right eye. A tattoo of an E and an H in Aurebesh sit just along his mouth. He glances at the Jedi, a smile tugging at his lips.

She immediately knows why he seems so familiar. He transferred from her squad to the 501st, although it wasn't his choice. "Sir," he starts, as he spies the familiarity in her eyes, "Let me be the second to apologize for what happened. I couldn't stop what I did, but that's no excuse. You shouldn't trust us, not after what happened. What we did is unforgivable, and I wouldn't blame if you were to leave right now."

"Eh," she smirks. "I think I'll stick around. You once took a knife for me. I think I trust you enough."

"If you're sure," Eh replies, nodding at her.

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

The introductions through with the brothers begin bantering amongst themselves. Keen sits, listening to the familiar voices arguing. She closes her eyes, and it almost feels like back at the beginning of the Clone War, before the entire Galaxy went to complete and utter gark. It's not that long after that Eh eases a plate of food into her hands, sitting directly beside her, his knee just barely touching hers.

She smiles at him, and, speaking quietly says, "I'm still sorry for leaving you to the Separatists. When the knife hit just below your eye, well, the medic told me you were gone, and the others decided on a tactical retreat. I could sense the life still in you, but, I had no choice."

He takes her hand in his, gently rubbing her knuckles with his thumb. "What's in the past, is in the past. You can forgive us for what we did to your friends, and yet you still hold the guilt of one mistake close to you. What happened to the fearless Jedi Master who wouldn't back down from a fight, even though she didn't want to be a part of the war?"

"She changed."

In the course of their short discussion, Eh's head had moved down to where Keen could feel his hot breath on her cheek. She can tell he's thinking about old times, and forcefully turns from him. Keen can't help but notice the look on Cody's face. He looks somewhere between bemused, and a little confused.

Changing the subject, to give Eh a few moments to calm himself down, she turns to Hotrod, and asks, "How'd you get your name."

A loud, collective groan fills the ship, as the Clone starts in on his story.

"Okay, so there I am, on Kamino. We're going into the final test to see if we're ready for field work. General Shaak Ti is there, up in her booth. At this point I'm CT-9654. Well, my squad gets the go ahead, and I'm off like a rocket, leaping over things, shooting the clankers left and right. My vode are there at my side, and the droids just keep coming. We succeeded in the mission, no problem. And set a new record."

"So you got your name because you lead your squad to victory in the shortest time?"

"Nah, it's because I won't shut up. Apparently, 'I run my mouth like a hot rod engine."

Keen chuckles, "So you told the first story for no reason?"

"Nah, I'm a glutton for attention."

She shakes her head at him, rolling her eyes.