The Wolf Pack

Chapter 71

Cody had been working with Kriari semi-regularly since the war had started. She had proved herself time and time again as the conflicts had continued. He had trusted her with command and she had trusted him to guide her through it on several occasions. Cody considered Kriari not only an ally, but a true friend as well. He thought he knew her pretty well, or at least until Geonosis. Something had shifted after that. He had read the reports of what happened, but he never imagined the true damage that it had caused.

Cody was an intelligent man, he knew watching allies get possessed could not have been easy to deal with, hell he knew he would not have handled it nearly as gracefully as she had. He had watched the security footage, Kriari had refused to kill any of his brothers, even at the risk of losing intel to the enemy. As a soldier he considered it inefficient and irresponsible. As a clone, he felt that she truly saw every single clone as an individual.

But now as Kriari mowed through enemy droids like a bloody droideka, unwavering and unfeeling, he worried they might be losing her. Rex was concerned as well, he had told Cody how Skywalker reduced his Padawan's trauma by making it into a game. Kriari didn't have that, she had been rawdogging the war without any buffers for that trauma. Yes she had two masters and an entire battalion supporting her, but no real deterrent for all the damage the war was doing.

Jedi unlike clones had never been taught to deal with trauma in healthy ways, they had been taught to meditate and "not let the darkness win" which was a load of shit when it came to the kind of trauma killing and death could bring. Yes they had mostly been fighting droids, but they had also fought sentient beings. Kriari also empathized heavily with clones, and each death she witnessed weighed heavily enough in her heart to tattoo the fallen clones' names onto her skin.

Cody and Rex could see her reverting to the base nature and instincts of Dobraks as the battle continued. Her moves were still graceful, practiced and deadly, but there was a lack of compassion there, a sense of satisfaction and enjoyment the more droids she killed. There was a sneer slowly growing on her face, and her stance and placement in battle had completely changed. She was not on the defensive anymore.

Kriari had made it a point throughout the war, even when it first started, to be the shield to the clones while they fired at the enemy. That day was the first time in almost three years that Kriari abandoned her post and went on a rampage. Not that the clones needed the cover, but the fact that she had left them without any spoke volumes. It wasn't that she didn't care, no. It was just that her fury and frustration towards the enemy were greater than her concern for her allies.

"Remind me to never make the Commander angry..." a clone said to Cody as they both fired on the oncoming battle droids that had boarded the Coronet.

Cody switched to a closed line of comms he had with Rex.

"we need to do something, this isn't good"

"I know, I've never seen her leave us all without a shield. She's fighting more like Skywalker..."

They both watched Kriari as she continued to decimate the enemy numbers.

"Do you reckon we should talk to Kenobi, Plo-Koon or Wolffe?"

Cody ducked behind the wall to take cover for a second as he answered.

"I mean she has been with the 104th for a while now, I thought things would have improved by now, and you know Kenobi, he can be pretty dogmatic when he wants to be. I think the kid just needs someone to talk to who won't sugarcoat shit or give vague spiritual advice..."

"So do you want us to talk to her?"

"Why not? We know her well enough and the way this is going she might blow a fuse and turn all of that" he said pointing at the feral Padawan ahead of them, "to us. We need to do some damage control."

Cody and Rex watched as Kriari's fighting got more and more erratic, increasingly more violent, wilder with every moment that passed.

"Commander!" yelled Rex to try and get her back from the edge, "KRIARI!"

Kriari stopped in the middle of her movements and rose to her full height slowly. Shots were flying past her and only avoiding her for mere inches. Her lightsaber beside her flickered, the color green blinking in and out of existence, merging into yellow and sometimes orange. She turned her head slightly back and glared behind her. She didn't speak but they all knew what she was fighting, she knew what she was fighting, and focusing on Rex and Cody was helping only so slightly.

"Commander, get out of there and get some cover, we can finish this..." Said Cody trying to get her out of fight mode.

"I'm not retreating" she growled deeply, "I'm never retreating again."

Well fuck.

Cody understood immediately what was happening. Kriari had been made to feel helpless too many times and this was her trying to regain her sense of self, her power. But this... this was not the way to go about it, she was playing a dangerous game here, more dangerous than she ever had.

"It's not a retreat, Commander. Enemy forces have been pushed back far enough, we can finish this with a few troopers in no time..." Said Cody.

"Yeah. Commander, let the boys have some fun too!" added Rex so as not to sound so incriminating, if the focus shifted to the clones and not her, then maybe she would not be in the defensive as much.

Kriari stopped herself from responding when she saw most of the men had stopped shooting and were looking at her. She knew what that meant: she was showing lack of discipline, lack of professionalism, she was showing emotion, and therefore she was showing weakness. Weakness in a leader, in a Commander could be deadly and a detriment to morale.
She stood straighter as enemy fire continued to miss her, and walked back towards the line of clones slowly, deliberately, and with a cold gaze on her head held high. She was closed off, and unapproachable for the first time. No one said anything as the troopers started their advance on the last few droids.

Kriari stood around the corner, staring straight into a wall and trying to regain control over herself. Pupils were blown out, fists clenched and jaw set. Rex and Cody kept an eye on her as the rest of the clones made their advance. Both men flanked her and made sure to keep an eye out for enemies as their Commander tried her best to pull herself together.

"Cody." She said finally, her tone severe but with an almost imperceptible tiredness.

"Yes, Sir?"

"Find Generals Kenobi and Skywalker" she said as the sound of laserfire stopped "let them know enemy forces have been defeated."

"But, Commander, what about you?" Cody wasn't one to defy orders, so him questioning her made Kriari aware of just how bad the situation was.

"I'll keep Rex close just in case. He can handle me..."

Rex wasn't sure about that, but he would be damned if he didn't try.

"You can count on me, Commander."

Kriari nodded towards the hallway to get Cody moving, and when he did, she turned back towards the wall.

"Set your blasters to stun, Rex" she said softly, "You might be needing them soon."