Chapter Text
~Cal's PoV~
Waking up, I stretched my arms and legs out, the blanket I use to keep warm sliding onto the floor. Standing up, I start my routine with some meditation, then my stances with the blade turned off. I've just exited the fresher when my com unit goes off.
" ::Padawan! Come to the training deck at once:: " my master's voice commands.
"Yes, Master." I respond, grabbing a protein bar for breakfast and my lightsaber off the table as I head into the maze of gray hallways the made up the Venator-Class Star Destroyer I've lived on since the Clone Wars started.
Finishing the bar, I bump into a clone coming 'round the corner. I grin as I recognize the yellow chevron emblazoned upon his front.
"Woah, there. Hey, Cal." The clone said in surprise.
"Back a'tcha, Impulse." I say, figuring I have time for some small talk.
"Ready for a rematch later?" He asks and I smile at him.
"Yeah, anytime!" I replied.
"Sounds good." He said, his signature feeling proud and confident. "You on your way to training?"
"Aren't I always?" I ask rhetorically.
"Alright then. I'll see you later." He said and continued on his own way.
"Bye" I called as I approached an intersection. A couple clones, I think Sharpshot and Tango, were standing guard and a GONK droid was plugged into the wall.
"I heard we're getting new orders soon." Sharpshot said to Tango as I approached.
"Finally. I'm ready to be gone from this dump." Tango said.
"We're leaving Bracca?" I asked hopefully, it was no secret that I wished we were stationed a little closer to the fighting.
"Possibly." Tango told me.
"Tango!" Sharpshot admonished. "Don't go getting the Commander's hopes up with second-hand gossip."
"It's alright, Sharpshot. I'll believe it once Master Tapal says so." I reassure them.
"Speaking of the General…" Tango starts and I realize what I'm nearly late for.
"Right, I better go. Bye!" I call, sprinting down the hall, nearly colliding with Surge, one of my favorite clones of the 13th battalion; third only to Phoenix and Knockout, in that order. He shot his arms out to slow me down.
"Woah! You're in a rush." He said. "Where's the fight?"
"Master Tapal summoned me for training, I'm late." I explain, my heart rate slowing.
"Well, you've got this kid." He said, holding his hand out for a high five which I obliged him.
With that I entered the large, paneled room where we held my practical lessons. Not seeing him on the deck, where he's usually waiting for me, I call out his name.
"Master Tapal?" I catch movement behind the glass of the observation/control room and assume that's where he is. I'm proven right when his voice echoes out on the intercom.
"Padawan. It is time for instruction. But first, an assessment." He announced.
"Yes, Master?" I inquire, eager to excel.
"Reach our position. Use the skills I've taught you. And do not keep me waiting; like you did getting here." He instructed and I sheepishly apologized as the room's moving and rotating platforms began activating.
I began climbing upwards, using my Jedi Flip as a boost if needed; leaping at tiny handholds on the walls, sometimes running on the walls; and climbing surfaces. All to the occasional praise or correction from my master.
I was so focused on where I was going, that I didn't realize Captain Steel, our third in command, had raised his blaster up until the Force screamed at me. I drew my saber, ignited it, and deflected the stun bolt that nearly struck my face in the same fluid movement.
"Wha–? Hey, cheap shot Captain." I protested lightheartedly as he chuckled.
"Focus." Master Tapal said sternly. "Were you concentrating on your surroundings as well as where you were going, you would've anticipated this distraction." As I continued towards the other doorway, he praised me.
I hopped up onto the floor and joined my master and Captain Steel. He turned to me, face impassive and expressionless.
"We will begin with physical preparation." He said, before glancing at Steel. "First though, we have orders." I perked a bit.
"Bracca is secure. We move out for Mygeeto shortly. " He informed me and I couldn't contain my excitement. "You must–" He stopped mid-sentence as he staggered backwards, clutching his head in what appeared to be pain, his face showing shock, and appearing out of breath.
"Master. Are you okay?" I asked him, my excitement changing to concern in an instant. Not much could stagger my master's large, bulky frame. Whatever he felt in the Force must be horrible if he staggered like that.
"Something is… wrong" he whispered, more to himself than me, as Steel had someone indiscernible on a holoprojector. And then he pointed his gun at my master!
"No! NO!" I cried, but my master was quicker, spinning around in half a second, lightsaber ignited, killing Steel before he could kill him . I stumbled closer to my master, now scared.
"W… What's happening? Why did Steel just…" I begged, but quieted as he silenced me. I waited, and when he spoke, it was on a level of seriousness I'd never heard from him before.
"Cal, something terrible is happening. The clones have betrayed us. There are no answers to your questions, not yet." He began walking away. "We need to get off this ship. Quickly." He beckoned me and I jogged after his long strides. "Get to the escape pods. Use the maintenance halls." He crouched down to my level, placing a hand on my shoulder. "We trained for this, remember?"
"Yes, Master." I said shakily. "W… what about you?"
"I will create a distraction and meet you. If I am not there when you arrive, depart without me." He instructed. "I will find you on Bracca. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Master." I answered, as loud clanging and blaster fire could be heard.
"They are coming. I will seal the blast doors, but if any cross your path, do not hesitate." He said getting up and approaching the panel, before turning back to me. "Go. And may the Force be with you. Go." He said, opening the back door as the blaster fire grew closer. "GO!" And I ran, terrified for my very life.
~Knockout's PoV~
~5 minutes earlier~
"Glad you're feeling better enough to help organize the med bay, Phoenix." I said, carefully sorting and aligning all the different vaccines for the most common diseases in the galaxy.
"Of course, Knockout. I still get the occasional dizzy spell or blackout; and my head still throbs sometimes, but I'm glad to be doing physical hard labor again." Phoenix replied, pushing a crate of medical equipment. Three months ago, we'd gotten news of a bomb threat in one of the many scrapping and engineering guildhouses. As our resident 'bomb whisperer', he'd been sent to the surface. He'd gotten it safely diffused and disposed of and was on his way back to the LAAT, when a scrap pile collapsed, burying him. It took an hour to unearth him, and he'd been bleeding from three different head wounds and almost lost him five times until I could get him stable.
"Glad to have you back to almost perfect condition. I honestly don't know why the recommendation is to send all clones who receive head trauma back to Kamino for reconditioning." I said, beginning a small rant. "I mean, I took care of you perfectly fine. And you're basically back to pre-accident health."
Just then, our comms crackled. I grabbed my wrist comm, while Phoenix placed his helmet on.
" ::The time at last for the Empire to rise has come, Execute Order 66.:: " It said, then went dead. I was frozen, the last three words bouncing 'round my head.
I remembered when I first heard the horror-story-esque rumor: every clone ever made has a small biochip in their head, one that when activated, would turn the clones against their beloved Jedi Generals. And then, during a chance meeting, I'd gotten to confirm it was no rumor, it was a terrifyingly true fact.
The worst part? I had only been a junior medical officer, with no authorization for ANY surgery, much less an exploratory brain surgery to remove a chip most clones and Jedi didn't believe existed.
But I, with the help of medical droids doing the actual work, performed the surgery upon myself and was soon gazing at the insidious device. At last, I had physical proof about the chip… until it disintegrated itself under my microscope. I was disappointed, but there was a plus side. If it ever activated, I would still have my free will and be able to assist my General in fleeing.
"Knockout? What the kriff is this Order 66 bullshit?" Phoenix asked and I froze. ' He's not affected… but I never removed his chip! I decided against it due to the trauma his brain was already going through! Then why… of course ! The head injury! It must've done something to make the chip malfunction! Could that be why all clones with head trauma are supposed to be sent back? ' I shook my head. ' No time for hypotheses Knockout, we gotta move now if we're gonna help them escape. '
"Phoenix, that rumor about the chips in clones' heads? It's as real as you or me. And what it does is make them–" I informed him, already gathering bags, just to be cut off by the comms erupting to life with battle chatter.
" ::There he is, shoot to kill.:: "
" ::Tapal's on the move.:: "
" ::We're gonna need backup.:: " Phoenix yanked his helmet off and threw it across the room, face pale and sickly.
"Shooting at our General? The Commander ?! He's just a kriffing kid !" He raved, furious.
"I know, I know. But they're being forced to… like how droids must follow their programming." I said, piling the supplies I'd just put away haphazardly into the bags.
"If you knew about the chips, why didn't you remove them from us!" Phoenix yelled.
"Save the Jedi, then we can argue!" I snap. "I'll follow Tapal, you go after the kid, check the vents and maintenance tunnels. I've lost count how many times we found him in places like that."
"And once I find him? The kid's gonna be terrified, and even if I get him to trust me, then what?" He asks.
"The general probably already came up with a plan, follow that one." I said before slinging my helmet on and running out the door.
~Phoenix's PoV~
I began making my way through the ship, having to slice my way through our blast doors, checking all the spaces our tiny jedi would hide. The groups of clones, they are no longer my brothers, I realize that now; I run into speak in abrupt, clipped sentences with no emotion behind it.
And then I noticed the maintenance hatch with a grate that could've only been yanked off with the Force. ' Bingo. ' I thought and slipped in, I saw a broken fan just ahead, still-glowing lightsaber marks in the metal. Following his trail, I stayed quiet, not wanting to alert the meat droids of my vod'ika's location.
Suddenly, I turn a corner and have to scramble backwards to avoid stabbing my face on Cal's lightsaber. And what a sight he is. Tear tracks on his face, minute trembling from fear, and eyes blown wide with terror.
Quick as a flash I whisk the helmet off, revealing the burn scar on my cheek and scalp (similar to the Hound's in Game of Thrones) , and toss it and my blaster at his feet.
"S… stay back…" he begged.
"Cal…" I said. "I'm not like the others, Knockout too. We haven't betrayed you."
"How do I know you're not lying?" He asked.
"Who currently has my gun? And, if I was gonna betray you, I'd've done it when I saw the maintenance hall grate yanked off." The 10-year old lowered his saber, but didn't retract it. Progress.
"Cal, who would cuddle you after your nightmares? Me. Who, other than the General, would help you through a really bad echo? Me. Think these questions over and ask yourself, 'would someone who did those things for you betray you?'" I said, trying a new tactic. And it worked because a moment later the 'saber was gone and I had a quietly sobbing child round my waist.
"Help me…" he whispered and I ruffled his mop of ginger hair.
"I will. Knockout as well. Now, if I know the General, he has a plan, can you tell me what it is?" I said, grabbing my helmet and blaster.
"Get to the escape pods." He whispered as we began navigating the thin hallways. "If he's not there when we arrive, leave without him."
"Well, I already know a way I can help." I said and activated my comm. "This is CT-2626, I think I spotted the young jedi headed for the hangers. I recommend sending all troops, the older one may be waiting for him."
" ::CT-2626, we'll send a platoon over that way.:: " a trooper reported and I turned to Cal after turning off my comm.
"That should take some heat off General Tapal." I whispered.
~Cal's PoV~
As we navigated the halls, I glanced at Phoenix. His signature sang with fury, grief, worry, love, protectiveness, and loyalty. The signatures of the others were… not quite blank, not quite gone… muted would be a good description.
Phoenix was the clone I was closest to. It would make sense he wouldn't betray me, but then wouldn't the same be true for Steel? Surge? Impulse?
After slicing through some cables and slipping through a narrow gap, we were in the turbolift shaft, on top of a turbolift.
"Uh… Cal." Phoenix whispered. "I don't have Jedi skills like you. How am I gonna ascend the shaft?"
"I'll help you." I said, with that I pulled a dangling cable over to us and handed it to him. "Just jump across and I'll boost you."
Carefully, as he leapt, I did a small Force Push at him and he released the cable, landing on a turbolift. We repeated this a couple more times until a clone spotted us. Phoenix dispatched him quickly with his blaster, but the blaster fire drew others to the shaft.
Fortunately, the next turbolift was close enough that we could do a small jump and climb up its side. The bad news, as soon as I reached the top, blaster bolts struck my hand. Reacting to the pain, I released my only form of defense: my lightsaber. I lunged after it, but it had already fallen too far down the shaft. I curled into a ball, trying to make myself a smaller target, as blaster bolts fired around me. Quickly they stopped and heard my master's voice.
"Cal! Your lightsaber!" He scolded.
"I'm sorry, Master!" I cried out as Phoenix came into view.
"BEHIND YOU!" He bellowed and Phoenix dove back down over the side to avoid the spinning laser frisbee of death.
"MASTER! HE DIDN'T BETRAY US! HE'S BEEN HELPING ME!" I shouted. "His signature hasn't changed! Knockout too!"
"Yeah General, I'm on your side!" Phoenix added.
"Keep climbing! I'll meet you up ahead!" He shouted.
We continued to climb until we made it back to the maintenance hall. As we crept along, Master Tapal fought below us. He must've heard us above him, because he soon gave me instructions.
"There's an override panel just ahead. You must activate it if we're to escape." He said.
"Yes, Master/General." We said simultaneously. As we approached the exit of the maintenance hall, Phoenix's comm crackled.
" ::We have Tapal pinned at the airlock. Send for backup, CT-7132:: " Phoenix grinned devilishly at that.
"They won't be getting that backup, Cal. 7132 is Knockout." He whispered. With that, we jumped down into the hall and was shoved to my knees by Phoenix.
"Stay down." He said, pulling me to a wall and peering down a hallway. "Okay, I see the override, but there's a window, if you go to activate it they'll see you and kill you."
"So what's the plan?" I asked.
"You'll crawl next to me, staying out of their view, I'll activate the override." He said and I nodded. Phoenix began striding down hall, acting natural while keeping an eye on me creeping behind him.
"Jaro Tapal's on the other side of that door?" One of the clones asked.
"Yeah. But he won't be getting through." His companion said. "Take him far too long to cut through these doors with that lightsaber."
"That's what you think." Phoenix said, getting their attention as he pressed the override, opening the blast doors, and letting my master through.
"Padawan! We have to leave, now." He said.
We opened the door in the pod bay to two clones. Just as they were about to shoot me, Master Tapal killed them.
"The door controls!" He commanded. I rushed to the panel as Phoenix took up a defensive position next to Tapal, blaster primed and ready as a squad of clones burst in, guns blazing.
"Cal, hurry!" My master called as he began deflecting the bolts back with Phoenix firing upon his former brothers.
~Knockout's PoV~
I had never given them, the backup they had requested, but that still left two squads of clones for the Jedi pair to deal with as I sprinted for the pods. I rounded the corner to see a barrage of bolts strike the General and I hear Cal scream. 'Thank goodness I cleared out the med bay.' I thought.
Jaro Tapal flung three clones into the ceiling as another two blaster bolts struck him. Cal rushed in front to protect him, but he only got shot in the face. Phoenix dropped his position and fell back to help the General into the pod.
And clearly the stress had gotten to Cal, for with a scream, the kid shoved his hands out and the clones shooting at him flew backwards. I leapt over them, sprinting for the pod.
"Time to go, kid!" I shouted, grasping his hand and pulling him into the pod as they got back to their feet. We heard two bolts ping against the pod before it deployed, sending us hurtling towards Bracca.
"Master! Master, you okay?!" Cal fussed, close to tears. I got up and sat next to the General, grabbing my scanner and bacta patches. I began looking him over, saying my assessments out loud as the General tried to comfort Cal.
"I overloaded the ship's reactors. The explosion will mask our escape and others will assume we died in the explosion as well." He said before hissing and jerking his hands away from me.
"General, if you do not cooperate with me, I'll show you first hand how I got my name." I threatened lightly. "Your hands took the worst of the damage. Good thing you wear some armor under your tunic as well as the breastplate." I chuckled. "I don't know how many times I've heard Kix of the 501st, complain and rant that his General and Commander don't wear armor, and they're on the front lines usually!" Strained chuckles came from everyone.
"Okay, good news. Your armor and natural biology helped protect your vital areas, but you still got shot to hell, General. You're gonna be in pain. That nick in your ear looks cool at least and your hands will somewhat heal." I said, finishing wrapping his hands in bacta patches and bandages.
"Somewhat?" Cal said anxiously. "What does that mean?"
"I mean the blaster bolts damaged to the nerves to and in his hands, Cal. That's something that only a specialized neurosurgeon droid on Coruscant could fix."
"Oh." He said. "You mean my master…"
"Sorry, General, but your lightsaber days are over." I said glumly. Instead, he picked it up, tremors starting in his hand and gave it to Cal.
"Guess this is yours now." He said. "And call me Jaro. The days of the Republic are over. Now, Cal, let Knockout look at that blaster burn."
"Why did they do this…" He whispered as I dabbed a bacta patch at the nasty burn brushing across his left cheek and under his ear. "And why did only you two help?" I sighed.
"Biochips." I said. "Last time we were on Coruscant, I heard the rumor. Most clones thought it was some spooky 'what-if' story. These chips force us clones to lose our individuality, make us mindless drones forced to shoot down our Jedi Generals." Jaro paled.
"Then, one day, I ran into Rex, the captain of the 501st. He told me it was true. A trooper in his battalion, Tup, had their chip activate early… firing upon Commander Tano. She sensed it and dodged the bolt, but everyone was stunned." I continued. "A fellow trooper managed to sneak around and investigate what caused it and found out about the chips, what they did, and the trigger phrase. He managed to warn his medical officer Kix, and him."
"But why didn't anyone figure it out?" Cal asked softly.
"Because whoever ordered that we have these chips placed attempted to silence Fives, the trooper who investigated. He had to desert his battalion to go into hiding to protect his battalion from anyone targeting him. No one knows if he's alive or not." Phoenix pale significantly.
"Deserting your brothers is the highest dishonor a fellow clone could do, Cal." Phoenix explained. "If he felt like he had to desert to protect his brothers…" He shuddered.
"But why didn't you…" Cal asked, before quieting as I continued my tale.s
"When Kix started his own investigation, he found the remains of Fives' research. And when he tried to bring it up to the Kaminoans and his superiors… he vanished. When i found out about them, i was still junior to your other medical officer, i had no authorization to conduct surgeries unless it was life-threatening in that moment." I explained. "Not to mention most clones thought it a false rumor or story and doubted their existence. I was also afraid that if I also started looking into it, I'd vanish too. Eventually, I got brave enough to investigate if it at least was true, then I'd see about warning you. So I, with the help of medical droids, conducted the exploratory surgery to find and remove it." I moved my hair back, showing the surgical scar. "I found it, but when i tried to study it, to find evidence of the Order to show you… it disintegrated."
"So you didn't follow the order, because you had removed yours. Is it the same for Phoenix?" Jaro Tapal said.
"No. He still has the chip, BUT!" I said, then rapidly continued as they both looked at Phoenix, Jaro in protective anger, and Cal in fear. "I have a theory. Protocol requires all head trauma clone patients be shipped out to Kamino. We didn't do that with Phoenix cause A) I saw it as unnecessary and B) he was in too unstable a condition to leave the system. I believe his–"
"They/them." Phoenix spoke softly.
"Pardon?" I asked.
"They/them. I identify now as non-binary. I was scared to tell anyone because I didn't want to be shipped back to Kamino due to my requesting new pronouns bring seen as a deformity by the Kaminoans and being decommisioned." They explained. We all smiled warmly, happy that he now felt comfortable to confess his new gender.
"Very well, I believe the reason behind their chip not activating is due to recovering from the head trauma." I finished. "But as soon as we are planetside, I'm removing it. Just as a precautionary measure in case it activates at a later date." All four of us nodded and strapped into the seats
~Jaro's PoV~
Cal huddled closer to me as the pod shuddered, entering the atmosphere of Bracca.
"What now, Master?" He asked.
"We must come up with some story in case we crash near a settlement." I said. "You two could pose as identical twins, Cal could be my ward, and…"
"We were captured by pirates? We escaped, and crashed on Bracca?" Cal suggested and I nodded approvingly.
"That's good, now brace for impact!" And we collided on the surface as a bright explosion of light appeared in orbit.