"I was programmed to handle hard situations, Sir."
"Yes, but he was quite close to you, wasn't he? Did he say anything? Every piece of information he possessed could help us win the war. Isn't that what you want?" The Chancellor watches me closely...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Day 377 SK Destination: Umbara ??? hours
We line up outside, and I find myself facing Fives directly. I hold the heavy blaster I was given, standing in formation with the others, face set. Fives is watching me.
"Will the prisoners request to be blindfolded?" Dogma asks. Jesse and Fives don't reply. "I'll take that as a no."
"I hope you can live with yourself, Dogma," Fives says.
"Ready weapons!" He ignores Fives and raises a hand. We prop the blasters up against our shoulders in unison, barrels pointed skyward.
One beat.
"Never thought we'd go out this way," Jesse says.
Two beats.
"Aim," Dogma continues. We set the blasters sights on them. My breath gently blows a strand of hair out of my face as I watch the focus of my blaster, aimed at Fives. My heartbeat is steady and slow.
I'm about to kill my brother, and I couldn't be more calm.
"Wait!" Fives shouts. "This is wrong! And we all know it. The General is making a mistake, and he needs to be called on it. No clone should have to go out this way!" He glances at me. "We are loyal soldiers. We follow orders, but we are not a bunch of unthinking droids! We are men, we must be trusted to make the right decisions, especially when the orders we are given are wrong."
I hold my blaster steady. I don't have a choice. I'm a good soldier, and good soldiers follow orders.
Right?
"Fire!" Dogma shouts.
One beat.
The sound of blaster shots echo into the air around us. But I hold Fives' gaze, my blaster aimed at the ground, still cold.
"What— what happened?" Dogma asks. The others drop their blasters, having missed Fives and Jesse on purpose. Mine falls from stiff fingers beside them.
Rex puts a hand on Dogma's shoulder. "They're doing the right thing, Dogma, because if this is how soldiers are rewarded for heroic actions, then one day, every man in this battalion may face a similar fate."
"No!" Dogma snaps. "We have orders! We have to go through with this."
But no one listens to him as Fives and Jesse's binders are removed, and the blasters are collected. I don't move, staring at the ground.
What will the General say? What would Wolffe tell me? What about Kamino? They can't send me back, can they? General Plo wouldn't allow it, but these good men were sentenced to death. So what if—
"Pup?"
I look up at Fives, his brows creased softly in concern. I jump up and throw my arms around his neck. He tilts back, patting me gently.
