19 BBY Illandin
Something shoves me out of bed and I stagger, almost falling as I catch the edge of the sheets and manage not to topple onto the floor. "What?" I mumble, my eyes still heavy with sleep.
"Get up," a woman's voice hisses. "Now!"
"Huh?" I blink open my eyes. Where am I? And who're you?"
The Twi'leki woman grabs her shirt and drags it on. She gestures wildly to me again. "Get up and out of sight!"
I twist over and plant my feet on the floor. The hell are my clothes? I find a few of them and slip into them, hurrying toward the refresher. How did I get here?
There's a heavy knock on the door. I recognize the sound, but I was certain I'd dreamed it.
Light cracks under the door and I can see shadows moving as I peek through the slightly cracked refresh door.
"What's up?" The Twi'lek woman—I can't remember her name to save my life—leans toward a shadow in the doorway.
"You vanished last night. Where'd you go?"
"I had an emergency."
There's doubt in the voice. It sounds like another woman, but I can't tell exactly from the low tone's they're whispering in. "Emergency? Lailana, you know you can tell me if you need off, but this is the fourth time you've vanished without a word. I don't want to do this to you."
"I swear, it won't happen again!"
So, I'm definitely not the first. That should hurt more than it does, but I can't even remember this woman's name. There's a comfort in the fact she likely won't remember me either. I'm not here to get attached.
Something buzzes on the floor of the room. I pat my pockets wildly. My commlink.
"Come in," comes a muffled voice.
"Kian, come in."
Both women turn around. The shadow—who appears to be a woman who looks tough as a soldier—shoves past Lailana and into the room. "Lailana, are you in trouble?"
"No!"
She turns. "I told you, you can tell me."
The commlink buzzes again. "Lieutenant Kian, come in!"
I hope they can't hear my name, but the stouter woman whirls around and my stomach sinks. I can't let her find that commlink.
Lailana whirls, lips parted in defense. The woman leans among the blankets and reaches for my commlink.
I shove open the door and stagger out. "Don't touch that!"
Two pairs of eyes snap to me. There's fear in one, and disappointment in the other.
"Another clone," the stout woman sighs.
I put my hands up. She's got a blaster clearly held at her side, but she makes no move for it. Instead, she straightens up and fixes both hands on her hips. "Lailana."
"This isn't her fault," I say.
In two strides, this woman is in my face. Her skin is deeply tanned. She looks like she might've seen more of the universe than even me. She levels her glare at me. "I remember you," she says. "I remember a whole lot of your kind. Stay out of my bar."
"I—" I open my mouth. I close it.
"And you!" She whirls to Laialana. "You're fired."
Lailana's face mottles a deeper purple. She glares past her boss and right at me.
The woman before me stoops down, picks up my commlink, which is now buzzing incessantly, and slaps it in my hand. "You should get back to work, trooper."
I stare at the comm and finally shut it off. The stout woman stalks off and leaves the door open. I look at it. I don't have my boots. I'm still missing my jacket, and my socks.
"Get out." Lailana points to the door.
"What? You're the one who—"
"Get out!" she screams and snags something off the floor which comes flying at my face. I duck fast and break for the door, skidding out into what looks like a back alley. Laialana screams some foreign curse at me. I dart around the corner and into the street only to realize I still don't have my shoes. The pants I'm wearing are not mine, but they do fit, and the shirt somehow is the one I was given.
I look at the commlink, muted, but still blinking rapidly. I click it on and lean my head against the duracrete wall, looking out bleakly at the people trailing past me.
"Lieutenant!" It's not the captain's voice anymore, but Nidor's. "Where are you?"
"Great question," I mutter. I don't recognize this district. I'm not even sure I'm on base anymore. My head is foggy and there's a headache beginning to pound at the base of my skull.
Nidor's voice turns taut. "Get back to base, now. And tell me you won the kriffing game."
"Sure, I did." I remember that much. I rub at the side of my face.
"Then you'd better have something to show for it."
I look at my pockets. "Yeah, sure," I mutter.
The commlink finally snaps off. I straighten up. I feel more like someone ran me over with a speeder bike. I should get something to eat, but I'm pretty sure I don't have any money left after last night. Won't the General just love that. I shove the comlink deep in my pocket and groan. "I hate that kriffing jedi."
#
"I would throw you in the brig, but my gut tells me you'd just enjoy the solitude." Addie sighs, clearly the more disappointed of my two commanders.
The General wouldn't even look at my face. So the Captain is here to dole out the punishment. At least I'm back in a bodysuit and uniform, where I belong. I rub the back of my still pounding head.
"So where am I going?"
Addie stops pacing around the empty briefing room. He braces his hands on the dormant holo table and stares at me. His helmet also stares at me from where it sits on the table beside him.
"You get to clean the medical bay and run errands for the medics."
"What about the other Dar'A–"
"Don't act like you care about them now," Addie snaps. I shut up.
"The General decided this punishment long before you showed up. The others will be fine. I personally agree this is the right course of action. Maybe you'll learn something about biology and its horrors and this won't happen again."
"I know how biology works." I rub the back of my head.
"Then you ought to know better!"
"I was drunk!"
"And who's fault is that?"
I look at my boots. "Wouldn't have happened if that kriffing Jedi didn't use me like some cheap prostitute for all his grunt work."
"He asked you to run a mission, Kian. A mission to keep weapons out of the hands of the enemy." The Captain's knuckles are almost showing white through his gloves. He's angry. I can't blame him.
I blame myself.
"I completed the mission," I snap anyway. I don't care how angry they are, I'm angry too. I'm angry enough I could quit if I was allowed. I should've smashed the comm and stayed on Illandin.
Except that would mean forever being branded that one guy who got himself kicked out of the Kiln and slept with a waitress.
Maybe the medics won't be so bad.
Addie flexes his fingers to keep calm. "You might have completed half the mission, but the blatant disregard for the stakes of the universe is enough for me to place you under arrest, am I understood?"
"Yessir."
"Get down to the medical bay, Kian. You're on house arrest." Addie grabs his helmet and points at the door.
In a moment of Déjà vu, I flinch before turning and slinking out of the room. I'm escorted by the troopers outside down to the medical bay. I can't really argue with this punishment.
I'm greeted by faces drawn with exhaustion and general disappointment in all of humanity, me included.
"You're back." The head medical officer, Gauge, barely glances up as I walk in the room. "I hope you like cleaning up blood and urine."
"Not particularly."
"Then you'll fit right in. I've already got two tables that need to be swabbed." He points to a box of cleaning supplies. "Get on it."
"I hate you," I mutter.
"Might as well hate yourself," Gauge shrugs. He looks over his shoulder, though. "You know that lashing out isn't going to get you anywhere, right? Clones, we're supposed to keep our heads down and follow orders."
"You all keep saying that," I mutter. I grab my box of prison essentials and haul it over to the red splashed tables that reek of bodily fluids.
I don't hate you. I hate this situation. That I got myself into. No, I hate that kriffing Jedi.
But maybe Gauge is right. I just have to keep my head down. Follow orders and don't make a fuss. I pick up a rag and look at the table coated with the blood of the last man who laid on it. I put my head down to work. Be a good soldier.
#
4 BBY Decimator Debriefing Room
"Molto Shore is known to have connections on Illandin." Myren shows the planet in the middle of the holotable.
A hole worms into my gut.
"Illandin?"
"Yes," she says. She looks right at me. Myren has all of our documents, mine included. She knows I've been there before.
"You are to try and make contact there, and," Myren flips through a few more holographic images. "There is a large clone presence on Illandin. Many of them work near and around the Imperial base there. Commander, I sent you a dossier on a woman named Esho. Her father is a clone. She's worked closely on Illandin and I think her skills would be useful."
"My niece, huh?" I glance at my datapad. I did see the dossier come through. I haven't had time to read it, but I will make time. I wonder if I know her father, or if he's just another retiree. Illandin has quite the population of them.
"Yes. She's highly skilled. I did mention you'd be recruiting a second team, right?"
I nod.
"There is also one other figure to mention. I sent you his paperwork as well. In fact, he was originally considered for your position."
I remember his document. Kanor. An old Republic Commando. Definitely better credited than me for this job. I nod in response and skim over the files on my datapad.
"I will read over them both later," I assure Myren.
She nods and turns off the holo table. "I'll let you debrief the team. We should be landing in a few hours."
It's been years since I've been to Illandin. I've mostly put everything I know about the place from my head. Not my finest moment.
Myren walks to the door. "Anything else, Commander?"
My eyes snap up. I blink a few times and realize Myren's staring at me. "No," I say. I look back at my datapad. I won't make the same mistake twice. We're here to work. "Let's just get this mission over with."