Clone Wars Underground: Chapter 23

 

The gangway to the mid-class freighter lowered. Cet held his breath, both his lekku twitched in nervous anticipation. Two men in clone trooper armor descended. 

“Captain Rex.” Finley and Sys saluted immediately. 

“I’m no captain now.” Rex replied but returned his salute anyway. 

“Sir, yes sir, Captain.” Sys replied. He looked at the other man.

“This is Fives, we’ve worked together for a long time.” Rex introduced.

“You’re him? The one Ellia brought back?” Finley asked cautiously. Back on Coruscant Finley had heard the many rumors passed around the barracks about the clone who was shot, then mysteriously lifted away, never reaching a furnace or morgue. Commander Fox had done the research himself. Thire knew as well. They never found the body of the renegade clone. He even asked the scientist, Ellia, about it. Most of the rumors involved her. Now the rumors were all laid to rest by the man standing in front of him.

Fives nodded in acknowledgement. 

“And Ellia?” Finley pressed. The brief thought of hot chocolate crossed his mind as it always did when Ellia was brought up. 

“She’s here.” Fives reassured them. There was an audible sigh of relief from Finley’s helmet. 

“Is Maaka here?” Cet blurted out from behind Sys, unable to contain himself any longer.

The boy’s head popped out from behind Finley and looked eagerly from Fives to Rex. Fives couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face. The boy’s enthusiasm was infectious.

“He’s here too.” 

Cet took three steps towards the ship then caught himself.

“May I go aboard?” He asked politely.

It was Rex who let out a short laugh before nodding. 

 

A meeting was called that evening in the private residence of Hiso Awen and his family. His only surviving relative, his aging mother, had stopped her task of caretaker due to health issues. The large, airy home was built into the side of the mountain. Multiple small waterfalls and flowering vines adorned the stone-hewn walls of the home. It was a tribute to nature. Every building on Moltok had a nature shrine, but the Awen’s shrine covered the entire wall. Large transparasteel windows on the outer face of the mountain showed sprawling grassy hills. It was summer now and their northern position created much longer days. Each day in the summer months lasted several standard days, but time was kept regularly which meant the light from the Moltok’s sun lit up the nighttime hours. There was a shield of ash from centuries of volcanic eruptions that hung high in the atmosphere of the planet. It kept radiation and heat from burning everything up since Moltok was relatively close to its sun. The ash shield was so thick that it was considered a large layer of Moltok’s atmosphere. It was this same suspended layer of volcanic ash that kept the moisture in, creating the vast rainforest climate. Now, it created a red-hazy light that illuminated everything in a warm tinted glow.

The small group of clones and their allies gathered together in the common area. Their numbers had grown in the past months since the discovery of the bio-chips. Fives and Rex were there standing at the front of the group. The 501^st members that attacked the Jedi temple, Brix, Burnout, and Jace, all stood together. Then there were the clones that joined later: Ty, Finley, and Sys. Finally, there were the naturals, or non-clone allies. These consisted of Ellia, Brenni, Kisha, Zerall and her daughter, Cet, and the head of the house, Hiso Awen. Fives looked around at their growing number. He wondered what Rex would say to them all. He knew what he would say. Fives watched Rex, gauging his expression. He looked tired. They all did. Hiso stood and addressed the group.

“Welcome to my home.” The old Ho’din greeted in a voice that sounded like brittle leaves blowing over dry bark. “I don’t know all of you, but I believe that dinante, the natural way of things, has brought us together for a purpose. For years war kept me from my home, now empire forces us all into its controlling mold. I want nothing but peace for my home, but I fear there will be no peace with the coming of the Empire to my planet. I offer refuge in hopes that through the will of nature, we will harbor the seed for peace in the future.” He paused, took a deep breath, and exhaled. It was an indication in Ho’din culture that as with the change in winds, he was changing topics. “I will give you the shelter of these lands, but I ask that you in turn you help to defend the people of Moltok as you would your own.” Hiso turned towards Rex and nodded. 

“Thank you Master Awen.” Rex stood. “Master Awen and I have devised a plan. We will be building and maintaining a base here. Actually, we can think of it more as a home.” He paused. Home was a new concept for the clones. “It’s not a home like Kamino. That’s just where we came from.” A few months ago, Rex would have never said such things about Kamino. He had thought of it as his home and defended it as such. Now it was just as he said: a place that he came from. He continued, “A home is a safe place. It is a place for family and friends. It is also a place to defend. I know what you’re all expecting of me, but I cannot stay here. There are already sparks of rebellion against the Empire scattered across the galaxy. I made some promises that I need to keep. In the meantime, I’m appointing Fives to lead the basecamp here.” 

Fives thought he was finished with his leader role, but Rex was staring him down. He knew that look. Rex was expecting something of him. Fives didn’t know whether to crack a joke or start laughing himself. Either way, he was going to have to say something.

He stood. Leader or no, he definitely had a few things to say. “We were created to fight somebody else’s war.” He started. He could feel the words building up in his head. They needed to come out. “We were taught to follow orders like programmed machines. But we’re human. The chips they put in us prove that they tried to take that humanity away.” He tapped the side of his head for emphasis. “I had a brother whose chip malfunctioned. He killed a Jedi. He had no control over his actions.” His voice began ramping up as the words he wanted came to him. “He didn’t even remember what he did! A few days later the same bio-chip killed him. That’s what those things do to us!” Fives checked his tone and took a breath. “That’s when I found out about the control chips. Then, I was drugged by the same scientists that put those things in us. That’s when that power-hungry maniac confessed to me, with a smile, that it was all true.” He spat the words out, his anger for Palpatine saturating his voice. “Then he sent my own brothers to take me down. And they did it!” His hands flew in the air “Why? Because loyalty was not an option, it was programmed into our brains with a chip! He has so much control that he can make us kill our own brothers!” Fives was shouting now. He took a breath and closed his eyes for a moment. There was more to say.

“I used to believe in one thing. I believed that we had the right to be the best soldiers that we could be because that’s what we were created for. That was a lie. We had no rights, not even that one. The Kaminoans kill us as easily as if they were deactivating a defective droid. The Emperor gives us no such rights either. So now my belief has changed. Now I believe that we should have the right to freedom, home, and family, just as any other sentient being in the galaxy.” 

Everyone stared in awe. Everyone except Rex who sported a rare grin. This is what he expected of Fives. His raw passion was more tempered now but could still be ignited given the right opportunity. Rex took the moment to add a few words.

“Thanks to the generosity of the Awen family we have a base. A home. Everyone will be assigned to help in some way and there will be missions, but tonight is for getting settled.” He looked around briefly and a blue hand raised from the side of the room. Cet stepped forward. 

“Uh, so Sys, Finley and I got things ready for you all. There’s food in the kitchen. When you’re ready I can show you to an apartment.” 

“Apartment?” Burnout looked a little confused. Kisha snorted a short laugh. 

“No barracks here.” Finley replied. “We’re living like civvies.”

“We are civvies now.” Rex corrected.

“We’ll adapt to the situation. It might be good for us.” Fives encouraged. 

Cet shuffled up to Ellia and Maaka.

“Hey there, kid.” Maaka greeted from the hoverchair. Cet already heard the story of their escape from Hazma and the Empire.

“Do you need anything?” Cet asked. His deep sea-green eyes were hopeful, but his brow was creased with worry. 

“I’m good. Thanks to you all.” He reached out and patted the boy’s head.

“I’m gonna take care of ya.” Cet promised. Maaka grinned. He should have expected as much. “I can take you to your room! You’re staying here at the main house because you’re family!” Without waiting for a response, the boy took the hoverchair controls and guided the chair down the hall. Maaka wanted to protest but let Cet lead him along anyway. The boy seemed so excited to show him his room that he just couldn’t bring himself to object. Ellia stifled a laugh as she watched them go. 

 

Rex watched the members of the small band of clones and friends. It was good, wasn’t it? The war was over and these few men had found a place to belong. It would have been good except for the thought of a looming empire that hung over all their heads. There was another thing. wasn’t there? He found Fives in the crowd. 

“You did well.” Rex complimented.

“I had something to say.” Fives replied with a sigh.

“And you said it. That’s what sets you apart.”

“Oh, don’t go patronizing me, Rex. I never signed up for the “responsible leader” position.”

“The best leaders never do.”

Fives paused. “Thank you, Sir.” It still felt strange not referring to him with his title.

They stood in silence for several moments, watching the crowd slowly migrate towards the kitchen, two brothers in a moment of company. Finally, Rex broke the silence.

“I need to find Comm-…I need to find Ashoka. She’s been in contact with others outrunning the Empire.”

Fives felt the slightest pinch of hurt at being left behind, but he knew they were no good to anyone without a safe place to offer refuge.

“Organize your team. Establish a base.”

“We’ll be ready for anything when you get back.” Fives promised. Rex frowned.

“I’m not coming back to lead you, Fives. You’re really in command now.”

“Not if I keep assuming you’ll come back to lead us.” He smiled slyly.

“Just remember to listen to the ideas of your men, no matter how crazy and unpredictable they might be.” 

“You’re talking about me, aren’t you?” Fives pointed an accusing finger at him.

Rex raised an eyebrow.

“Often times they will be able to pull off things that you can’t as their commanding officer.”

“That’s precisely the reason I don’t want to be the CO.” Fives groaned. He used to be the one pulling off daring and often crazy ideas. 

“It’s the burden of leadership.” Rex shrugged.

In the army, certain clones were raised to be leaders of units. Fives wasn’t one of them. He didn’t have the skills that Rex was taught. Now, they all had to adapt to new roles. It was never expected of the cloned soldiers to adapt. They were only supposed to fight and die. One more datachip of proof that their creators didn’t think of them as equals. Rex felt like he was collecting a lot of those data points lately.

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