•°. *࿐FORCE BOUND.
xii. FAKE OUT
❛ if i could keep anything of you
/ i would keep this quiet after you. ❜
I GUESS // MITSKI
"I THINK IT'S...DEAD, SIR?"
"Are you sure?"
"Looks it from here."
'Who the kriff is up this early?'
Rustling awake, Eisha immediately winced and her eyes squeezed shut at the pain. Her head felt like it was underwater, and her hand yearned to reach up and massage her pounding headache. Although from the robotic chatter outside, she didn't dare curl up into a ball and aid it — even if she desperately wanted to.
"Move to the next one."
"Roger, roger!"
Battle droids. She just seemed to have the worst of luck, didn't she? Exasperated, she groaned at her misfortune.
Listening out, she heard a loud clatter. The pod shook as something rather large must have detached itself from her shuttle. However, Eisha stayed flat and face-planted to the floor as they did so.
'Must say.' She began, 'It is quite a lovely floor, looking at it now.'
Giggling to herself, she attempted to ignore the aching in her head; before scooting up to see just what those pesky droids were doing. Head resting against the captain's chair, she peered around and into the deep space. Her violet gaze made contact with the assumed ship that was previously latched onto her — primed with giant claws for crushing small escape pods like hers.
"No wonder there have been no survivors from the other crashes," Whispering to herself, she studied them.
A clanker looked her way.
"Shit!" Her mouth shot, sprawling dead to the floor in her panic.
'Oh. Hi again, floor.'
"Hey, Commander. I think the Jedi's still alive."
She internally cringed, 'No, I'm definitely dead.'
"What? No, it's not, there's nothing there idiot."
"No! I saw the Jedi." It leaned closer to its Commander, whispering now, "It was watching us."
The Commander shook its yellow-tinted head, "You need to get your wiring checked, 566."
'That was too close.'
Sneaking a glance at them once more, she watched intently.
"Hey, look! There's another one," Collectively cheering as Eisha's eyes grew wide, they were heading straight to a pod of clone survivors.
There was nothing she could do.
Gaze snapping around the pod, her hands scuttled around the controls; looking for anything that could help. A communication panel.
'Perfect.'
Rushing over, she fumbled with the dial, hurriedly twisting and turning it to hopefully reach the survivors in the pod. Even better — a rescue team.
Fear spiked within the Padawan, panic consuming her as she aggressively fiddled with the dial. She was terrified: no supplies, no food, no nothing. In a small useless escape pod purely running off the fumes and the life-supporting oxygen it escaped with.
But, that wasn't what scared her. No. Not even the droids intent on killing her and her remaining men off, one by one — a game of cat and mouse.
No, what truly scared Eisha Ree?
She was alone, again.
And that terrified the Padawan, more than ever.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
FEAR. That single, strong emotion rang out in the Force to Master Plo. A series of indistinguishable screams begging for help — for rescue.
He was powerless to do so.
His heart grew heavy. But, a soft purr resonated as he stared down at the loth-cat who slept peacefully in his lap, having taken him from Sinker a while ago. Although he could only think of one person when he petted the cat.
His poor Padawan.
She had only been with him for less than a day. Now, she was long gone, along with the majority of the 104th. Images and flashes of the young Vashuni raced through his mind — quick and short, much like their time together.
"Do you think we have a chance, sir?"
But, those thoughts were for later. He could still save someone.
Even if he couldn't save his Little One.
"I don't believe in chance, Commander. If we stay together, we can make it out of here alive, and someone will come to look for us," Determination rang out through his voice.
"Well, with all due respect, sir." Sinker butted in, "But strategically, it doesn't make sense for someone to come look for us. If I was in command, I'd be hunting down that weapon."
'Maybe it's a good thing you're not in command then,' Wolffe felt like grunting. Although he knew he couldn't talk, he had already cost a life today.
A life he would not easily live down.
The General's voice brought Wolffe back to reality, "I value your life more than finding that weapon."
The words ruptured deep into Wolffe's heart — he only knew of one person who would talk like that. Talk as if clones had any worthwhile, and respectable place in this cruel world — instead of being another cast-aside toy in the Republic's political playground.
No. The Jedi Master had a very unique mindset toward his fellow Jedi, and especially superiors. He knew how the clones saw themselves: alike, in appearance, ability, personality, and in mind. But they weren't. Not at all.
Each, and every single one may be a clone. But, they were all still different. Oh, so different. Different personalities, different mindsets, different attitudes — even different features.
But most importantly, they were men. Plo's men, to be precise. He had great compassion and a special place in his heart for his men — clone or not.
"Hey, what if we contacted these two wires over here?" Sinker questioned before connecting the two cables anyway.
However, a collective sigh of relief was released in the pod as the power was restored. Rubbing his head, Boost walked over to the communication panel to check for any signals or calls.
"I'm picking up a signal from one of our other pods. They're under attack! I have the coordinates!"
Concern filling, Plo stood, "Hopefully, we can reach them in time."
Although as soon as the words were uttered, Wolffe turned to look through the pod's window. He noticed something latched onto the distressed pod that was contacting them for help.
Battle droids exited from it.
"Sir, I think we're too late."
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
THERE WAS STILL NOTHING FROM THE COMM. Nothing. The small pod that she had seen earlier were long dead; their floating corpses remained in the life-sucking atmosphere. She was left with nothing now. Nothing, but the dead static that consumed her brain — so bad it would surely drive anyone mad.
Everyone was dead.
Everyone was dead, and she'd follow soon.
Everyone was dead, and she'd die alone.
Everyone she loved was dead, and soon so would she.
Her Master, Mr Kitty, Sinker, Boost, her Battalion — kriff, even that Commander — they were all dead.
Dead. Dead. Dead.
And, she would die alone.
Alone.
Why was it always alone?
Static. Static. Static. Stati—
Her chest grew tight, but it wasn't felt.
Static. Static. Stati—
Her mouth grew dry, but it wasn't sensed.
Static. Stati—
Her body sweated cold, but it was in vain.
Stati—
-
"Eishi?"
"Eisha~?"
"Hey, Eishi? Sarad! Where are you, silly?"
The boy rounded the corner, an inquisitive finger tapping his chin before an idea struck. He knew just where she was.
Dipping his head down, he peeked into the open maintenance cranny in the wall. Ducking down, he spotted a small, white curled bundle on the floor.
"Hey, there you are. I've been looking all over for you—" A soft sniff resounded from her. His smile fell, "What's wrong? Eishi? Sarad? What's wrong?" Gently lifting her chin, he locked eyes with her teary violet ones, "Hey. Talk to me?"
Tears cascaded from her eyes, and she glared at the ground, voice like a vice. It wavered slightly, "I don't—" She huffed, "I don't understand. This is wrong! So wrong! I just—argh!"
Wolffe's brows furrowed at the Vashuni. She didn't sound sad, she sounded angry — and wrong?
What even was wrong, here?
"What're you talking about?"
"Kamino! Cloning! And now..." Trailing off from her exclamations, she wistfully mumbled, "And now, my Master told me the real reason for all of this." Shaking her head dejectedly, she fisted at her angry tears.
"They're going to make you fight, Wolffe. You and your brothers — a pawn to aid the Republic where they want, when they want." Wolffe's face fell at her words, "It's so wrong. They're valuing you as less than human! Like a soldier dispensable and ready to fulfil their every whim."
She glared at the floor with gritted teeth. Unleashing her frustration and horror at the Republic for approval of such an unethical situation, she feverishly shook her head, "But you're not! You are human! You're no less worthy of life than me!" Throwing her head back into her arms after her rant, she silently screamed, "You weren't born to die, Wolffe."
Tender, marked hands stopped her silent feat, however, reaching for her face once more. With one hand rested on her cheek, and the other firm on her shoulder, Wolffe breathed out a sigh.
This wasn't how he expected their conversation to go.
"Sarad," He glanced at the ground, before staring deep into her purple hues, "You cannot make everyone think, and feel as deeply as you do. If they think of me as a dispensable clone for battle — then so be it. That's their loss. As long as you see me, for me, and not as another one of my brothers. That's all I care about..." He sighed, "If I'm human to you, my Sarad. Then, I must be human."
Her lower lip trembled at his words. Leaning into his hand, she fastened both arms securely around his neck. Tears spiked in her eyes, "I won't let them hurt you, Wolffie. When I'm a Jedi Knight, I'll come and save you, and your brothers. You just have to stay alive for me, okay?"
"Anything for you."
Leaning back, she sniffed, "Pinky promise?" Handing out her pinky finger to the boy.
He smiled, taking her pinky.
"Pinky promise. For you, I'll keep myself alive. And, so will you."
-
"I made a promise." She struggled to stand, "And, I don't plan on breaking it."
Force willing, she expanded the range, a signal popping up as she did, "I will find you." Whispering down at her kyber crystal as it glowed, "I promise."
And a few paces away, Wolffe's shone a little brighter, too.
•°. *࿐Hello there!
I think this might be one of my longer chapters yet, I just kinda wanted to get the Malevolence chapters out of the way so we could have more clone interaction! So expect some more fluff-like chapters to come after maybe the next chapter (although I might just include some then too!) :))
And thank you all for your votes and comments! They really make my day so much better, and want to update and think about more of the chapters!! <3
See you guys tomorrow! Love ya!! <3
- iss <3
FIRST PUBLISHED:
LAST EDITED: 22/02/2023