Clone Wars: Underground - Chapter 26

 

Coruscant

 

Hazma scrubbed his helmet until it shined. There were kit-spec droids, but Hazma thought better when he was cleaning his own gear. The circular repetitions of the cloth on his plastoid armor helped him focus. Right now, he was completely focused on loyalty. He was bred to be loyal to his commanders, but he had seen other clones choose their own loyalties. Clones like Maaka, the washed-up, dead-beat on leave because he couldn’t hold a position. The idiot who spent his time at the bar getting drunk. The same idiot who was willing to fight him to the death for the scientist and a few other civvies. He chose to betray the Empire and chose to serve and protect others. He made his own loyalties and seemed to gain more than he ever lost. He had friends now, maybe even a family. What did the Empire give him for his loyalty? Questioning loyalty to the Empire, even just in his mind, felt treacherous. 

Fox had been loyal. The Emperor’s new pet terror strangled him to death. He purposefully didn’t think the sith lord’s name, as if doing so might summon him straight to the barracks. He was a terrifying sith lord who was also completely loyal to his Emperor. A figure so menacing that he struck as much fear into his own ranks as he did the enemy. Fox had been doing his job and made a mistake. He paid for it with his life. Hazma wiped excess polish off his hands. His helmet was cleaner than any spec-droid could make it. So much for loyalty.

His comm beeped with a message. There was a briefing in the commons. He suited up and joined the rest of the Coruscant Guard. Thire was already there, pacing. Hazma knew something was wrong, Thire never paced. Hazma wished he could see his face, maybe then he could tell what was wrong. It only took a minute to assemble the unit.

“The Emperor is re-organizing his personal and senate guard. He’s bringing in a new set of elites. We’re being re-assigned.”

“New? As in Non-clone?” Hazma asked without thinking. 

“This isn’t a discussion.” Thire’s voice was harsher than usual. He was an old clone, meaning he’d been though most of the war and survived. He treated his men well, but today he was a different person. Hamza could barely find the correct reply.

“Yes, sir, sorry, sir.” He stood at attention. They were the best of the best. His unit was trained for this specifically. What had caused the distrust in their abilities? It felt more and more like he was loyal to an empire that wasn’t loyal to him. The scientist was loyal to Maaka. She refused to leave him behind, staying beside him even as he was carried aboard the ship. Hazma exhaled. Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone care about you?

“Assignments will be made within the hour. Keep your comm channels open boys.” Thire voice cut though Hazma’s thoughts. He paused as if he were considering something else. “If you’re sent to a different commander, then it’s been a pleasure working with you. It really has.” He added.

A resounding “Sir!” filled the common area where the entire unit usually gathered for announcements. 

Hazma tried to keep to himself. The others in his unit seemed completely fine. They chatted about what positions they might be headed to, or what the mess was serving up for the evening meal. Was he the only one bothered by this? No, he could tell Thire was upset. Upset but professional. He hoped he could keep working with him. There weren’t many clones left that he knew well. They all were re-assigned or left. Like Finely and Sys. If I wasn’t serving under Thire, would I have gone with Maaka and the others? He wondered where they were now. There were no more evenings at the 79’s with his friends anymore. 

 

Hazma received his re-assignment orders within the hour. He checked with Thire and some of the others in his team. Not a single person was assigned to the same place. They were all being split up to different units. Suspicion crept into the back of his mind. The strange thing was that no one else seemed to care. They all accepted their orders as if it were something ordinary like just a shift change. It made Hazma wonder about the rumors of bio-chips implanted in their heads. Were all his clone brothers really being controlled to the point that they didn’t question any command they were given? Why did it even bother him? Shouldn’t he have the same chip in his head? He watched everyone go about the barracks on their own assignments without even the slightest consideration that the entire guard was being effectively disband and replaced. 

Disgruntled, he checked his assignment again. He would be commanding a special unit of clone troopers aboard a new destroyer called the Arbiter. Maybe it would be good to get off Coruscant for a while. 

 

Ord Mantell

 

Ord Mantell was a junkyard. To the eyes of those who didn’t want to be found, it was haven. Ord Mantell was automatically a part of the Empire because it was located Republic space, but the newly formed Empire was too busy wrangling former CIS worlds to worry about a backwater system of small-time criminals. Brenni landed at a platform that looked like it was just a large, flat scrap of durasteel in all the leftover ship hulls and tank parts. The ship blended in with the heaps of ship parts surrounding it.

“Nice cover.” Rex commented and shifted the cowl over his head. The cape was big enough to fit over his armor. With all the wayward beings inhabiting the planet, it didn’t look too out of place.

“I think all the landing platforms look this way.” Brenni looked a lot slimmer in her jacket and hood. 

“I’ll be in contact.”

“Don’t be a stranger.” 

Rex strode off, head bowed to discourage onlookers. He blended in with the crowd almost instantly. Brenni needed re-fit her ship.  Then she could check out some of the tips she had. Rex had her comm number. He promised to send her any contacts he made as well. 

A small bleeping light on the hull of her ship caught her attention. It wasn’t anything she recognized. It was definitely not a part of her ship! She pulled it off. There was only one thing it could be. 

“A transmitter.” She whispered. She pushed a sudden surge of panic down and reassured herself. No one else is here. If you get caught, no one else will get hurt. It did little to calm her, but at least she wasn’t tracked to Moltok. She still needed to get out of there, now! There was no time to tell Rex. In fact, it was better that he didn’t know. She didn’t want him racing back here to help her then getting in trouble himself. She rushed towards the ramp, but a shadow fell across the ground and she stopped. She was too late. There was no way she could get though pre-flight and in the air before she was caught. I didn’t even get to start my new journey. She sighed. 

An old z-95 headhunter touched down smoothly next to the Starfisher. The hatch opened and Ty hopped down.

“Ty!” Brenni called in disbelief. “You tracked me here!” It wasn’t a question so much as an exclamation of disbelief.

“Technically Fives set the tracker. He thought you might try something crazy. He thought and extra man could come in handy.” Ty greeted. She didn’t know when Fives’ suspicion had been raised, but the man had an uncanny ability to sense people out. To be honest Brenni felt relieved. She didn’t realize until now how much she wanted someone with her. She never even stopped to think about it. Fives was still watching out for his crew. 

“He said something like: Gotta watch out for the lady who saved me.” 

Brenni let out a short laugh. She had a sudden thought that clones were not used to people watching out for them, let alone going to any length to save them from death. They were incredibly loyal by nature. So was this it? She saves a couple of them, and they all protect her? It felt good. 

“Thank you, Ty.” 

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