The Wolf Pack

Chapter 57

Had Kriari been at a different point in her life, she wouldn't have been sure how to react to her current reality. She did realize she was living in an alternate reality, she realized this was only being allowed because of the mental and emotional state she was currently in, but she was too tired to care.

Master Plo had, once again, returned to Coruscant to deal with some Council matters, and both Kriari and Wolffe had been in command of the 104th. They would be given a series of relief missions with as little conflict as the Council could allow in war times. They would be dropping off supplies, setting up refugee camps and aiding other companies if required.

But it wasn't this that jarred Kriari so badly, she was still busy, still working, still training. What really made Kriari feel like she was living someone else's life was the fact that she was breaking every protocol rule ever written, and the entire battalion was willing to take the secret to their grave.

If their Commander didn't know someone's name and number designation it was because the man had been under her command less than a month, and even then sometimes she took the time to learn the trooper's name and what his Force signature felt like. This was something that did not go unnoticed in an army of men that looked exactly the same and tried very hard to distinguish himself from his brothers. This did not go unnoticed in a battalion who knew the name of every man lost would eventually end up on their commander's skin.

So they all turned their head elsewhere whenever they saw Wolffe exiting Commander Foreas' quarters. They all turned their heads when Kriari had a panic attack in some maintenance closet while some trooper tried to get her to calm down or reassure her. They all looked away whenever Kriari and Wolffe stepped closer to each other in the command room as an especially triggering report was being delivered.

Every man in the Battalion knew what Kriari had been through, knew what she had done for them, how she had fought by their side until she couldn't stand anymore. Their loyalty and faith in her only grew when, in a moment of pure exasperation, Wolffe told one of the men exactly why Kriari was not on good terms with the Jedi Council.

But of course, it was not all flowers, sunshine and smooth hyperspace cruising. One of the shinies had been talking about the unfairness of it all, the lack of discipline, and the lack of propriety in what was going on aboard. He was so vocal about it, he landed himself in an empty meeting room with Wolffe, Boost and Caller, the trooper who had reported him. Poor man was clueless of what awaited him as he entered the room. Wolffe sat at the end of the table, feet on top of the table right next to his blaster and helmet. His cold face and the now white scar that bypassed his bionic eye made him look as menacing as he could be. He was angry, but most of all, he was being cautious. He would not be betrayed, Kriari would not be betrayed, not by one of her men.

"Caller here tells me you have a problem with how things have been running lately," he said as he put his feet down and pretended to inspect his blaster. "Care to explain? After all, it is my job as a Commander to take in every single complaint my men might have."

Wolffe had to give it to the shinie, he didn't piss himself right then and there, and he had been around long enough to know exactly how to make grown men fear for their lives. The shinie just stood there, rod straight and looking him in the eye.

"It is my duty to report any and all deviations of protocol and GAR etiquette when I see them, Sir. I have noticed a tendency in the men of this battalion, yourself included, to break norms of conduct when it comes to Commander Foreas. I have thought of every reason under the stars for an explanation of your improper treatment of her and I have come to the only possible conclusion."

At this point Wolffe was more than a little irritated and losing his patience at a pace he had never experienced.

"I have concluded Commander Foreas must be giving, err, favors to the men in exchange for their total obedience and loyalty. Especially when it comes to you, Sir."

Wolffe's blood went cold, and his expression froze into something no man in the room had ever seen.

"Define favors, trooper. And choose your next words extremely carefully, they might be your last."

At this point, the shinie was realizing the errors of his word choice and the boldness of his accusations, but to his credit, the man stood still and continued.

"Favors that are sexual in nature, Sir."

Both Boost and Caller instantly got ready to stop their Commander from attacking the man, he had yet to move, to react, to say anything, but they both knew that when he did, he was likely to want to hurt the shinie.

What they did not expect was for him to laugh. Bitterly and with complete disbelief of what he had just heard. He continued to laugh as he shook his head and stood to get near the man. Neither Boost nor Caller were fast enough to stop the jaw shattering punch Wolffe delivered. But as it turns out, they didn't need to stop him from committing murder, Wolffe stood above the fallen man and spoke as clearly and deliberately as anyone would ever hear.

"You thank your stars now you are not worth the time cleaning the blood off the floor. I want you to listen to what I'm about to tell you very clearly, because I will not repeat myself." Boost had been working with Wolffe since before the malevolence, and he had never seen his Commander like this.

"Everyone in this cursed ship treats her with special care because she is recovering from trauma you dipshit, and do you know why they do that? Not because they want to get inside her pants or wet their dick in something warm, no. They care for her, we care for her because she has been the only person to ever stand side by side with clones and actually try to even the playing field. Did you know she almost got kicked out of the Jedi Order because she wanted us to have basic sentient being rights? Did you know every man this company has ever lost is etched in ink on her skin forever? Or was this just you being jealous because your brothers seemed to be closer to a female than you would ever get to be?"

Wolffe crouched in front of his brother and placed the barrel of his blaster to the underside of the man's jaw.

"Besides, no one on this ship is allowed to touch her. No one but me, she is mine and I am hers. Every man in this Maker damned cruiser belongs to her by choice, so you better wise up shinie, because if you are not hers to do as she pleases then you are not leaving this room alive. There is a reason there are and will never be traitors in the 104th battalion."

"Pretty words for a man who is her personal whore, but what do the other men, our other brothers, have to say about this, huh?"

Boost stepped forward, serious as he had ever been and put his hand on Wolffe's shoulder plate. He then took his Commander's blaster and inspected it before taking the safety off and aiming it at the shinie's temple.

"Commander Foreas injured herself protecting troopers as many times as she went into battle," he started as he crouched and looked the other man in the eye. "She started during the first assault on Geognosis, I was there. She did it again during the massacre of Abregado, and again in Korm, where we nearly lost Wolffe, and she nearly turned to the dark side after seeing an entire company salin by a Sith. She went undercover only to lose a friend and crippling the other. She has been serving with the 112th as well and from what I've been told, the men hold her in as high regard as they do General Kenobi."

Boost chuckled as the blaster chamber started warming up.

"Even if she were a whore, I would still put a plasma charge in your brains for insulting her. I don't give a shit if you call Wolffe a whore because Maker knows the man wishes the Commander would make him one, but insulting Kriari is a big no no here, buddy. That woman has earned the respect of two battalions and has paid the price for it, you on the other hand are an untrained rookie who was made to graduate early due to personnel shortages. Know your place, or I will show you you belong six feet under."

The new trooper seemed to come to an understanding then: he could learn to respect bothe the flexible nature of the rules within the 104th and their commander, or end up in an unmarked grave like many clones before him.

"Very well, I will play by your rules. But she still has not earned my trust or respect yet."