Clone Wars Underground: Chapter 24

 

Rex waited until early morning. There was nothing to be gained by leaving with fanfare. The sun lit the sky in a brilliant crimson. There was no cover of darkness when the sun stayed in the sky for days at a time, but most of the town would still be sleeping. He walked softly, his boots making almost no sound as they connected with the ground. He didn’t want to alert anyone. There was a transport near the landing pad that he could take to a spaceport. From there, he would need to use the fake ID and his bug-eye helmet to move around. It was risky. Rogue clones were sought after by the Empire and their allies. He had a cloak that covered him and his armor. Although it would be best to leave the armor, he felt completely defenseless without it.

“Where are you going all by yourself?” 

Rex jumped. It wasn’t often someone caught him off guard. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the person standing to the right of the landing area entrance. He looked up. It was Brenni, the woman he remembered as a volunteer relief runner from the war. Every time he saw her or her ship, he was brought back to the war. Not the fighting and dying times. The times when the fight was over. When her ship showed up at the scene, it meant that the 501^st had accomplished their goal. It meant that the people they fought for, on whatever planet they were on, would be getting the food and aid they needed. She was always following behind them, cleaning up the mess they made, helping the people they liberated. He exhaled slowly and brushed the memories away.

“Brenni. Sorry. I should have told you I was going.”

Brenni’s soft smile never faltered. “You did, last night.” She paused, letting the silence of morning resettle for a moment. “Anyway, I’m not leading my father here. Thought I’d skip around the galaxy for a while, giving him something to chase. Maybe pick up a few passengers.” 

The silence returned and Rex almost dared to ask, but he felt he shouldn’t.

“Need a ride? My ship’s almost prepped.” She asked for him.

“I could use one, yeah.” It came out almost as a sigh of relief. It would be so much easier to get around with Brenni rather than public transport.

 

 

The Awens were master botanists. They maintained not only the gardens around the lake at the center of Artico, but also all the lands round about. Hiso’s mother was the current caretaker but had gone to live in a care facility in the lush rainforests of the central regions. She had a number of health concerns and the humidity and warmth of the central part of the planet was largely beneficial to her declining condition.

Hiso and Cet stepped off the transport in the center of town. They were in Petiol, the second largest city on the planet. The constant rainclouds in the central areas filtered a lot of the red glare created by the ash shield. Here, the sky was gray and pink with cloud cover. Hiso noted right away, as with their excursion earlier, that there were much fewer Ho’din walking around. Their numbers had been gradually declining for generations, but he was shocked at how few he saw there. Maybe he had romanticized his home too much while living abroad. It was not what he remembered. It wasn’t how he had tried to describe it to Cet. Cet didn’t seem to notice. He couldn’t. He had never been there before and did not remember it the way Hiso did. Hiso thought that coming back home would make things right with his life, but the more he looked around, the more he realized that this was not the home he thought he was coming back to. 

“See that?” Cet’s voice came from his side. The boy was pointing to some uprooted plants in front of a beautifully maintained building. Hiso recognized the building right away. The weave pattern of the vines trailing up the walls was a specific pattern that symbolized that this was a house of government. The government on Moltok was actually a religious order of Master Botanists of the Dinante Fli’R. While Dinante was simply known as the natural way of things, the Fli’R was the organized order of religious government. The flower bed in front of the building was a mess of scattered soil and up-rooted plants. The flowers that were pulled were purposefully turned upside-down on their petals and shoved back into the soil. The sight of it made Hiso shift uncomfortably. It wasn’t the practice of any gardener.

Cet knew there had to be some kind of symbolism to the way the flowers were turned upside down. The Ho’din didn’t just love plants, they believed that they were descended from them. In fact, there were strict laws on the planet about younglings coming into the world as plants. The Ho’din believed that having a family had to be like flowers growing from seeds. Parents had to go to a special place, like a lab. His father told him that only the highest-ranking Ho’din medical-botanists were allowed to perform the ritual of combining a mother and father’s DNA to make a Ho’din “seed” youngling. It reminded him of watching his father collect seeds form a plant. He would take the seeds and plant them in trays of soil. The trays of seedlings that grew would have character traits from both the parent flowers they came from. Maybe it was kind of like growing a clone. Maaka told him that he and his brothers were kept in small pods while they matured, like the endless trays of seedlings his father kept. Only they were made from just one set of DNA. One flower. 

He looked back at the up-rooted flower. Seeing upturned flowers would be like turning a Ho’din upside down. Even as a Twi’lek, he knew that it was a very bad thing.

“Let’s get going, Cet.” Hiso ushered the youth in the other direction, towards the care facility where his mother would be waiting. He hadn’t seen her in over a decade and Cet had never met her. Hiso wanted Cet to carry on his family’s inheritance, and there was certainly no law against adopted sons, but it had never been done. He wasn’t sure if it would be accepted or not. There was a great emphasis on the law, thus a non-Ho’din heir may be frowned upon by government leaders. He needed his mother’s backing to get Cet fixed for the family’s inheritance.

The care facility was lit in green-white glow. It was relaxing. There was also the soft, calming scent of lull flowers permeating the lobby. The trees on Moltok grew so thick that the entire complex was cradled in the crook of a single branching trunk. Massive supporting branches could be seen through the windows. Platforms of wood and vines created outdoor spaces for the residents. Hiso spoke with the receptionist, a female Chagrian in local fiber-weaved dress. 

Hiso was wrong to think that the residents of the care facility would be mostly Ho’din. As they walked down the hall, he saw an aged Bith sitting in a hover chair, staring out the window. Beside him was an Ithorian listening to birdsong. There were a few Ho’din here and there, but not as many Hiso expected. 

They came to Hiso’s mother’s room. He knocked twice and entered. The room was covered in lilac vines with green and scarlet-stripped flowers. Soft luminescent sky-tears grew from the vines, giving off a comforting glow. 

“Mother?” Hiso’s raspy voice was softer and somehow more like a child’s. From a repulsor chair, an ancient-looking Ho’din woman turned her head slowly towards the two of them. Her red tendril-like hair was faded to a pale pink and she was so wrinkly it seemed as if she had twice the amount of bark-like skin as Hiso himself. Cet was in awe that a being could look so old and yet be alive and moving. 

“Hiso? You’ve returned.” 

“The separatists are gone from here. It is safe.”

The old woman grinned. “Sounds boring.”

“I’m not starting another revolt.” Hiso assured her.

“You don’t have to, there’s already one in progress.” Her eyes twinkled with delight. Cet realized there was a lot about his father and grandmother that he didn’t know. 

“This is my son.” Hiso put a gentle hand on Cet’s should. Cet’s lekku stiffened. He was somewhat terrified as to how the old Ho’din woman would react to having a Twi’lek grandson.

“C’mere boy.” 

Cet stepped into the light in front of the old woman. 

“What is the nature, boy?”

“The pure nature is Dinante.” Cet recited. Hiso taught him everything about the Ho’din beliefs. The Ho’din believed that they were descended from the very plants themselves and that nature, or Dinante, swayed all their lives. 

“And how does that apply to you?” She asked. This caught Cet by surprise. He knew he was an outsider, not from the flora of Moltok as the Ho’din believed. Despite this, he loved the teachings of his father and embraced them whole-heartedly. She laughed suddenly, a gurgly sound that ended in a cough.

“Don’t think about it too hard. Nature doesn’t. You’re here because my son loves you. That gives you a place. Look to the true Dinante to find your purpose.” She had a smile that was almost conspiratorial. 

“We have guests at the villa.” Hiso informed. 

“Anyone I should meet?” 

“We can take you there if you’d like. There are plenty to attend you.”

The woman’s eyes diverted for a moment, but her grin remained. “No, no. I enjoy harassing the staff here far too much.” She waved her hand as if to wave the thought away. 

“Then we’ll keep in touch.” Hiso promised.

“As long as you bring my cute grandson with you.” She winked at Cet. Cet finally felt comfortable enough to return a shy smile. The old woman turned then to address her son.

“There’s one more thing you need to know, if you don’t already.”

“What’s that?” Hiso asked. He knew the somber tone she was using. Only she could sound so serious with just a calm quiet almost whisper.

“Balen’wa plans on working with the Empire.” Her calm expression never changed. She could have been etched in stone. Hiso’s face fell. Balen’wa was Moltok’s highest-ranking Master and the most powerful Ho’din on the planet. 

“You know what that means.” Her soft words had lost the rasp of age almost completely. Hiso frowned. He knew what was coming. 

“Not right now.” He warned.

“But you do know?” She pressed.

“I know.” He replied quickly, hoping that she would stop talking about it.

They said their goodbyes and left the room. Hiso’s mind was turbulent as they headed back to the transport station. He didn’t want to be in that position again, but for now he didn’t have a choice. Most of all, he wanted to keep Cet out of it.

Cet knew better than to ask about the exchange, although he was intensely curious. How would she know about the Master Gardener’s plans? Why didn’t his father want to talk about it? Would they have talked about it if he wasn’t there? Cet knew full well that adults had a secret code they used when they didn’t want their young ones to know what they were up to. 

“She’s uh, interesting.” Cet managed after minutes of walking in silence.

“Keeps you off balance.” Hiso said, pinpointing the description Cet was looking for. It was completely true. He was expecting a gentle old woman to be talking about flowers or birds or something casual. His father’s mother- 

“What’s her name?”

“Kea’noa.”

Cet recognized the base words. Kea was from keanna, or spark fly. The second part was oonoa, referring to small furry creatures who were known for their secret stashes they kept in hollow tree spaces. 

“A secret spark.” Hiso interpreted.

Cet’s brow raised. It was an interesting name.

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